There’s nothing fair about inflation

A string of recent columnists have defended the trillion dollar spending proposals being debated in Washington right now, along with the taxes required to fund them. Rose Bender’s recent op-ed claimed tax hikes on the wealthy and corporations will usher in a “fair economic recovery,” ensuring that the wealthiest Americans pay their “fair share.”

Notably absent from Bender’s argument was any mention of the least fair tax of all: the inflation tax.

The Federal Reserve spent the last year and a half creating trillions of dollars in new money at an unprecedented pace and, right on cue, everything seems to be getting more expensive for the average American. The price of bacon jumped 19% in the last year. The price of eggs has gone up 13%. It’s getting downright painful to fill up our cars at the gas pump. Without any change to income, the average American is starting to feel poorer.

Despite promises from our leaders that higher prices would only be temporary as our economy recovers from the COVID recession, there is increasing evidence that heightened inflation is here to stay.