EDITORIAL: Joe Biden’s inflation: ‘It’s a big number’

Reality has finally intruded on the White House.

On Wednesday, faced with the highest price increases in three decades, President Joe Biden issued a tepid statement on inflation. Nowhere did it contain the word “transitory,” the favored descriptor over the past few months from White House economists telling Americans not to believe their lying eyes — and bank accounts.

“Inflation hurts Americans’ pocketbooks,” Mr. Biden acknowledged, “and reversing this trend is a top priority for me.”

Mr. Biden went on to tout his collectivist economic agenda. But who’s listening as prices soar, wiping out any wage gains? The Labor Department announced this week that the consumer-price index rose by 6.2 percent in October from a year earlier, the highest increase since 1990. It was also the fifth straight month in which inflation hit 5 percent.

“Price increases were broad,” The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, “with higher costs for autos, gasoline and other energy, furniture, rent and medical care. … Prices for both groceries and dining out rose by the most in decades.”

Defenders of the president argue that he’s the victim of circumstances beyond his control, including the pandemic. The buck stops elsewhere. Yet market-oriented economists have warned since last year that inflation dangers loomed if the federal government continued to hand out trillions in coronavirus “stimulus” even as the economy showed clear signs of recovery. The Biden tax and regulatory agenda — an assault on business from all angles — hasn’t helped.

“They poured kerosene on the fire,” former Obama administration economic adviser Jason Furman told The Associated Press. The head of U.S. economics at Bank of America said the inflation figures cannot be ignored. “It’s a big number,” Michelle Meyer told The New York Times. “What’s striking is the broadening of the inflationary pressures.”

Mr. Biden’s pending social spending and entitlement blowout will make things only worse. Let’s hope Sen. Joe Manchin retains his senses.

As for energy, the Biden administration has done everything in its power to discourage domestic oil and gas production, and now it professes concern over rising gasoline and other energy costs. In the meantime, the White House — straight out of an SNL skit — is asking OPEC to ramp up drilling in order to ease pressure on prices.

For now, the country finds itself in an economic version of “Back to the Future.” Perhaps it’s only a matter of time before Mr. Biden delivers a national TV address while wearing a cardigan and lecturing Americans to set the thermostat at 65 degrees during the winter months to conserve energy.