Inflation hits poor the most, will stick around for ‘many months’: Former Labor Department chief economist
Diana Furchtgott-Roth outlines growth policies aimed at curbing inflation
Inflation will impact Americans for months: Former Labor Department chief economist
Diana Furchtgott-Roth, former chief economist of the U.S. Department of Labor, provides her outlook for the economy and what to expect as it pertains to the new inflation data.
Former chief economist of the U.S. Department of Labor Diana Furchtgott-Roth argued that inflation will impact Americans for "many months to come," affecting the poor the most.
Furchtgott-Roth, an adjunct professor of economics at George Washington University, told "Varney & Co." that higher prices will remain "serious" through the summer and beyond as inflation sits near 40-year highs.
Last month it was revealed that inflation cooled on an annual basis for the first time in months in April, but rose more than expected as supply chain constraints, the Russian war in Ukraine and strong consumer demand continued to keep consumer prices elevated.
The Labor Department said last month that the consumer price index, a broad measure of the price for everyday goods including gasoline, groceries and rents, rose 8.3% in April from a year ago, below the 8.5% year-over-year surge recorded in March. Prices jumped 0.3% in the one-month period from March.
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Those figures were both higher than the 8.1% headline figure and 0.2% monthly gain forecast by Refinitiv economists.
Economist Diana Furchtgott-Roth argues that higher prices for things like gas and electricity impact the poor the most. (istock / iStock)
The new inflation data will be released on Friday and Furchtgott-Roth predicted "it’ll be certainly above 8%" year-over-year.
"What Americans are focused on are the gas prices," she argued. "They hit the poor most and this is something that President Biden is obviously not interested in doing anything about."
"He has the Defense Production Act for renewables, but not for gasoline or oil, which is what we need right now," she continued.
President Biden on Monday invoked the Defense Production Act to accelerate domestic production of clean energy technologies, including solar panel parts, in an effort to "spur domestic manufacturing," senior administration officials said.
On Thursday, Diana Furchtgott-Roth outlined growth policies she argued would help curb inflation.
"A true growth policy be for President Biden to stand up and say circumstances have changed," she said.
"We need to increase fossil fuel production in the economy because we are going to need this for decades to come and Americans are hurting."
She noted that "America is the largest oil and natural gas producer in the world" and has "the largest oil reserves in the world."
Inflation 'serious' for many months to come: Former Labor Department chief economist
Diana Furchtgott-Roth, former chief economist of the U.S. Department of Labor, provides her outlook for the economy as inflation sits near 40-year highs.
Furchtgott-Roth, did, however, acknowledge that she doesn’t think President Biden will take that route.
She stressed that Biden’s policies do not sustain growth.
"We are not trying to lower energy costs," Furchtgott-Roth argued.
"Americans are going to be facing higher electricity, higher gasoline prices, all through the summer, and it hurts the poor most."
On Thursday, gas prices reached a fresh record of $4.97, which is 25 cents higher than the week before and 64 cents more compared to the prior month, according to AAA.
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Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.