Former Obama Economist Jason Furman On Record Inflation: US Economy ‘Not in a Sustainable Place Right Now’
Former Obama economist Jason Furman, after the latest record inflation numbers, said the U.S. economy is “not in a sustainable place right now.”
Inflation rose to a record-high 8.6% in May, compared to a year ago. That’s the highest since 1981 — 40 years.
“Look, right now, you know, if you tamp down on the economy, you’re going to slow price growth and you’re going to slow wage growth. I don’t have any obvious answer for which one of those slows more than the other,” said Furman on CNBC. “Right now, we’re in a bad situation where we have a lot move price inflation than wage inflation.”
“May be slow the economy, may be slow prices more than wages. I just don’t know which of those slows more, so we may be helping people. But we’re not in a sustainable place right now,” he said.
According to the Department of Labor, “the increase was broad-based, with the indexes for shelter, gasoline, and food being the largest contributors. After declining in April, the energy index rose 3.9 percent over the month with the gasoline index rising 4.1 percent and the other major component indexes also increasing. The food index rose 1.2 percent in May as the food at home index increased 1.4 percent.”
Watch above, via MSNBC.
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