Has Joe Biden presided over the ‘worst inflation’ ever, as Trump claimed in debate?
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During Tuesday’s debate, Trump repeatedly cited high inflation on President Joe Biden’s watch.
“The worst inflation we’ve ever had,” said Trump, the Republican presidential nominee.
“They had the highest inflation, perhaps in the history of our country because I’ve never seen a worse period of time,” he said at another point.
Trump is wrong.
The inflation rate over the last 12 months was 2.5%, the smallest annual increase in three and a half years, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.
But inflation did spike under Biden’s watch. The bureau found in June 2022 that prices had jumped 9.1% year over year, a 40 year high.
But the increase was nowhere near an American record. Inflation hit 17.8% in 1917, the year the United States entered World War I. Prices increased at double digit rates for each of the next three years, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, which compiles historical data.
Prices were up 14.4% in 1947, as the U.S. recovered from World War II. They increased at 11.1% in 1974, then by double digits annually from 1979 to 1981.
After that, inflation cooled and prices went up largely at annual rates between 1 and 4%--except in 2022. Supply shortages could not meet increased consumer demand as the country recovered from the Covid pandemic, and energy costs spiked partly because of Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine.
Trump blames Democratic spending for pushing prices higher, though economists largely see that as a minor factor.
Inflation does remain a major 2024 campaign issue, as polls show it’s among the top concerns of voters. Last month’s Gallup poll showed the general economy was voters’ top concern, followed closely by high prices.
During their debate, Vice President Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, maintained that Trump’s policies would end up stoking inflation. Trump has proposed steep tariffs, or taxes, on foreign goods, a move that most economists say would increase prices.
Trump counters, correctly, that during his presidency, prices were never up more than 3% annually.
This story was originally published September 11, 2024 at 2:21 PM with the headline "Has Joe Biden presided over the ‘worst inflation’ ever, as Trump claimed in debate?."
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