Top Clinton economist labels Biden proposal to curb inflation ‘science denial’

FEE’s Peter Jacobsen writes, “So, after ignoring inflation, saying it will just be ‘transitory,’ and saying inflation is no big deal, many are being forced to address it. Unfortunately, some of the suggested remedies are even more disappointing than the initial denial.

One ‘solution’ being put forward by the Biden Administration is that the government needs to enforce rules which keep markets from becoming monopolistic, known as ‘anti-trust’ laws.

The emerging claim that antitrust can combat inflation reflects “science denial”. There are many areas like transitory inflation where serious economists differ. Antitrust as an anti-inflation strategy is not one of them.

— Lawrence H. Summers (@LHSummers) December 26, 2021

The logic goes something like this. Monopolies are able to charge higher prices, so stopping monopolies will stop prices from rising. If you don’t think too hard, this makes a superficial amount of sense. In reality, however, this is unlikely to work.

Lawrence Summers, an economist and former Treasury Secretary to Bill Clinton, equated the idea of using anti-trust to fight inflation with being ‘science denial.”

Read the entire column.