Blame it on Biden

A short while ago a friend of mine, a 5th grade elementary school math teacher, asked me if I could tell her where Europe was. She didn’t know.

I’m not kidding!

You have to think that every grade school classroom has a globe in it and, unless you’re spinning the globe really fast, you should be able to find where Europe is in a spin or two. But maybe that’s too much to expect given the fact that American schools have de-emphasized, or eliminated entirely, courses in Geography, World and European History, Social Studies and many of the classics from their curricula over the last two or more generations, resulting in many Americans knowing little or nothing about the world that exists beyond the borders of these United States. It would not surprise me at all if large numbers of the current crop of American students, and their parents, believe that the Soviet Union was a Russian labor organization; the Ottoman Empire was a discount chain of furniture stores; or that “Yemen” is what Muslims say when they finish their prayers.

All of which brings us to the price of gasoline and rate of inflation in the United States.

Gasoline prices in America have risen to record highs last week and inflation in the US economy is way up after 20 years of very low inflation. The price of gasoline at the pump (which was around 30 cents a gallon when I started driving in 1962) reflects not just the price paid to the oil company, but a big load of Federal, State, and local taxes paid to those government entities. The politicians know that there are some products the demand for which is “inelastic,” meaning that Americans consumers (and the rest of the world) will continue to pay for the product regardless of whether its price goes up. Think of gasoline, tobacco, and booze. These are great products to tax, because the taxing authorities know that they can continue to count on receiving the tax revenues even if the price of the product goes up.

Although taxes, by themselves, don’t massively contribute to inflation, they do contribute a little, as does the price of refrigerators, other appliances, the price of groceries, houses, cars, air fares, restaurants, beer, hotels, etc. Have you flown in a plane lately; tried to buy a house or a car; shopped the supermarket? Have you waited in line for a table for hours to eat at a good restaurant and, when you sat down, were shocked by the prices of your meals?

But you bought them anyway, didn’t you? The great philosopher and thinker, Yogi Berra, when talking about a good restaurant, famously said, “Nobody goes there anymore; it’s too crowded.” Yogi was a national treasure, but not an economist.

That’s what inflation is all about; lots of consumers willingly chasing and paying for a limited amount of goods and services. So, it’s us, the consumers, that fuel the fires of gas prices and inflation.

But who do Americans blame for high gas prices and inflation? President Joe Biden and the politicians in charge, that’s who.

Right now, the US inflation rate is 7.2%. In Great Britain it’s 7%, and the European Union (what we used to called Europe when we knew where it was) is at 7.8%. Gasoline in the US is at $4.87 a gallon; in Great Britain it’s $7.90; in Germany $9.36, Holland $9.27; Norway $9.56; France $7.83; Finland $9.31.

So, my question to you readers is: How does Biden’s incompetence and the bad policies of the Democrats cause inflation and the price of gas to increase to record levels all over the World, some even greater or much greater than exist in the US?

The answer is, of course, Biden’s incompetence and policies don’t. Gasoline is a worldwide commodity and inflation a worldwide problem, and the cause of both is you and me, the European consumers and other consumers around the world. Add in the oil companies and oil producing countries (both of whom know a good crisis when they see one) and you get $6.00 a gallon and 7% inflation, or more.

None of us want to face those realities. Americans have a pathetic need to blame someone else, anyone else, rather than face the fact that the face they see every morning in the mirror is a big part of the problem. We should change the name of the country to “The United Scapegoats of America.” At least, that will allow us to keep the USA logo.

Some anonymous genius once said, “If you think the price is too high, don’t pay it! If you pay it, the price is not too high!”

If the shoe fits, wear it!