Biden advisor defends stimulus and inflation surge: 'The real cause was the global pandemic'

The Covid-19 pandemic, alternatively than Joe Biden's economical policies and stimulus packages, is the "real cause" of precocious inflation, according to a subordinate of the U.S. President's Council of Economic Advisers.

In an interrogation implicit the weekend, it was enactment to Heather Boushey that a cardinal disapproval against "Bidenomics" and the immense stimulus it had brought, was that it had, to a definite extent, fueled inflation.   

Boushey, who was speaking to CNBC's Charlotte Reed astatine the Aix-en-Provence economical forum successful France, rejected this notion. "What the president did erstwhile helium archetypal came into office, the American Rescue Plan — we were successful the mediate of a pandemic, and helium enactment successful spot a argumentation that gave america capable flexibility to woody with each the challenges that came our way," she said.

A $1.9 trillion alleviation package, the American Rescue Plan was announced successful Jan. 2021 and passed by Congress successful March of that year.

"Had we done that, and the United States' ostentation spiked higher than anyone else, well, possibly you could marque the lawsuit that it was astir that policy," Boushey added.

"But the world is, is that that isn't what happened — yes, the United States had inflation, but truthful did different countries that did not person the aforesaid policies."

"So the inflation, the existent origin was the planetary pandemic, and that is astir the resiliency of our planetary proviso chains."

Expanding connected her point, Boushey said this was wherefore the U.S. was "making the investments that we request to make."

The world's largest system was also, she added, "encouraging our friends and allies astir the satellite to enactment with america to foster the resiliency successful proviso chains that we volition need, and to determination america distant from fossil fuels, which person these volatile prices, towards cleanable energy."

The second script would supply "more unchangeable prices implicit time, wherever we tin get distant from immoderate of the disruptions that the planetary system tin origin for home prices."

Inflation successful the U.S. rose astatine a 4% yearly complaint successful May, according to the Labor Department, its lowest yearly complaint successful implicit 2 years. In mid-2022, ostentation successful the U.S. topped 9% to scope a four-decade precocious with marketplace commentators noting aggregate factors, specified arsenic clogged proviso chains, outsized request for goods implicit services, and trillions of dollars successful Covid-related stimulus spending.

Biden's support ratings deed an all-time debased past year with polls showing Americans were unhappy with the authorities of the U.S. system and soaring state prices.

During her interrogation with CNBC, Boushey besides noted that the ostentation complaint had "come down for 11 months now" and that the U.S. had besides "seen stronger maturation than different G7 countries, and we person not seen higher inflation."

—CNBC's Jeff Cox contributed to this article.