Press ReleaseMarch 10, 2022

Today’s Historic Consumer Price Index Increase of 7.9 Percent Continues to Set the Stage for a Future of Stagflation

Alfredo Ortiz, president and CEO of Job Creators Network, released the following statement in response to today’s announcement by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that the Consumer Price Index rose by 7.9 percent:

“Today’s historic inflation is making Americans poorer. Especially when combined with last week’s Bureau of Labor Statistics announcement that wage growth is flat, inflation is causing Americans to experience an enormous Biden pay cut and lower standards of living.

Today’s inflation is even worse when looking at skyrocketing gasoline costs. This pain at the pump, which is a result of President Biden’s kowtowing to the ‘regressives” green agenda from Day 1 of his administration, makes consumers feel even poorer than they are. As a result, consumers will cut back on discretionary spending, hurting small businesses and economic growth in our consumption-driven economy. The Atlanta Fed already predicts that GDP growth this quarter will be zero percent.

Small businesses, which create two-thirds of new jobs, are being significantly affected by this high inflation and low economic growth. According to Job Creators Network Foundation’s monthly Small Business Intelligence Quotient (SBIQ) poll, inflation is by far the biggest problem facing small businesses. Their increasingly negative view of business conditions and inflation pain will force many of them to cut back on hiring.

High inflation plus no economic growth plus fewer jobs is the trifecta that produces stagflation. Unless Biden dramatically changes course by implementing free-market reforms that boost business and commodity supply, including heeding our call to increase domestic oil production, stagflation threatens to define his presidency. Biden’s presidency is morphing into a reincarnation of President Carter’s every day and stagflation would mark the culmination of this process.”