As Americans begin to cast early ballots though most are eyeing the Nov. 5 election day as when they plan to cast their vote, another new report is going to spell big trouble for Vice President Kamala Harris. High inflation during President Joe Biden’s term may lead to significantly higher prices for voters in the 2024 election.
Since November 2020, overall prices have risen by approximately 21%. Under President Biden, year-over-year inflation peaked at around 9% in June 2022 and has since slowed to an annual rate of 2.4% as of September, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics analyzed by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Price increases for numerous products have significantly outpaced the overall inflation rate, including essential household items like eggs and butter, which have risen by roughly 163% and 50%, respectively, between November 2020 and September 2024.
Beef products have significantly felt the impact of inflation during the Biden administration. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the price of uncooked beef roasts has surged by over 31%, uncooked ground beef has climbed nearly 27%, and uncooked beef steaks have increased by approximately 28%. In addition, bread prices have risen by more than 23%, and bakery products have seen an almost 27% uptick.
“Inflation has been one of the most brutal drivers of the pressure being felt by everyday consumers in recent years. Almost nobody can keep up with the cumulative rise in prices,” O.H. Skinner, executive director of the Alliance for Consumers and the former solicitor general of Arizona, told the Daily Caller. “It’s deeply upsetting to many people when headlines focus on individual inflation prints or annual inflation numbers and don’t recognize that the prices staring at consumers from the store shelves are shocking because the inflation that has cumulatively built up has reshaped the shopping experience in a brutal way.”
“In the last reading before the election, CPI came in hot and above expectations, revealing the Biden-Harris administration was never able to get this issue under control and back to the Federal Reserve’s target rate,” said JCN CEO Alfredo Ortiz.”https://t.co/5vjRkbMJ2i
— Job Creators Network (@JobCreatorsUSA) October 10, 2024
In July 2023, the Federal Reserve elevated its federal funds rate to a 23-year high range of 5.25% to 5.50% in an effort to curb rising prices. The Fed maintained this rate for eight consecutive meetings before implementing a 0.50% cut in September. The combination of persistent high inflation and elevated interest rates has strained American consumers, with delinquent credit card balances reaching their highest level in twelve years during the first quarter of 2024. Additionally, the personal savings rate has plummeted from over 25% during the pandemic to just 4.8% in August.
Meanwhile, a new analysis of 2019 U.S. consumer prices revealed that the costs of imported goods decreased despite the implementation of import tariffs by then-President Donald Trump. A 2024 report from the Coalition for a Prosperous America examines the impact of Chinese exports to the United States, finding that these exports lowered prices rather than increased them.
“Since the Section 301 tariffs were imposed, the share of imports from China has steadily declined from 21.6% in 2017 the year prior to the tariffs to 16.5%, a decline of 5.1%. No other country has lost as much share of total U.S. import penetration over the past five years,” the group’s report said.
“In terms of total import value, Mexico gained the most from the tariffs, adding $110.8 billion. Vietnam gained the second most in import value by $78.4 billion and by far gained the most of total share of U.S. imports. In 2017, Vietnam accounted for about 2% of U.S. imports at $46.5 billion,” the report continued. “In 2022, the U.S. imported $127.5 billion in goods from Vietnam, and the share of the total nearly doubled to 3.9%. Other countries in Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia all saw significant increases in their value of imports by the U.S.”v
The Conservative Treehouse noted of the study’s findings:
With the 2024 election rapidly coming, it is worth revisiting the actual tariff outcome to American consumers in order to dispel the popular myths about tariffs raising prices here at home. This might be the cited data you want to bookmark.
It was the Fourth Quarter of 2019…..Right before the pandemic would hit a few months later, despite two years of doomsayer predictions from Wall Street’s professional punditry, all of them said Trump’s 2017 steel and aluminum tariffs on China, Canada and the EU would create massive inflation – it just wasn’t happening!
Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.