I have previously estimated that Biden’s spending programs are responsible for about two percent of our inflation rate. Most studies have reached a similar conclusion. From the perspective of an economist, then, the pertinent question is whether the rapid recovery and the decline in the unemployment rate justified the additional inflation. Reasonable observers can disagree on that point.
The issue, however, is not being presented that way. The Republicans are suggesting that all of our inflation was caused by spending, which is patently untrue. Worse, they are getting little pushback from the left.
We would still have above average inflation without the spending programs. If that had occurred, the GOP would still be blaming Biden, with no justification. That, of course, shows that the GOP criticism is opportunistic and devoid of any intellectual content, a point that is further supported by the right’s vacuous “solutions” to the problem.