What could possibly go wrong with this scheme?
As the Democratic party administration in Washington struggles to find effective ways to fight high inflation, some economists are calling for lawmakers deliver new assistance for Americans dealing with high gasoline prices.
“If I were Dem leadership in the House, I’d bring forward a bill to give $50B gas price relief to low-income households and defy Republicans to vote against it,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, in a tweet on Tuesday.
Or, we could open up the spigots, give out permits. It wouldn’t even matter if it would take time to get the oil, the market which sets the cost per barrel would respond to the potential. Anyhow, they don’t really care, they just want to Own The Cons.
Wouldn’t such spending add to inflation? Shepherdson pushed back after a critic suggested exactly that, with the economist saying it would not because a $50 billion outlay amounts to just 0.2% of U.S. GDP.
And it would make Citizens even more reliant on government. I wonder what the threshold would be for “low income”? And, why $300? That seems a bit excessive. It would also mean that the market would stay high, with those bidding on the oil figuring to keep it high.
Stuart Hoffman, a senior economic adviser at PNC, said Shepherdson’s proposal is a “great idea,” adding that Congress should look at gasoline vouchers for the Americans who qualified for stimulus checks through March 2020’s relief package.
Providing $2 or $3 per gallon of gas for those families could work out to $200 or $300 a month per family, assuming they typically pump 100 gallons each month into their cars, Hoffman said in a post on Twitter.
100 gallons? Sheesh, I know I’m at the low end, with maybe 20 gallons a month, but, still, 100?
There’s a real chance for legislation that provides such vouchers given how gas prices have surged, said Greg Valliere, chief U.S. policy strategist at AGF Investments, in a note on Wednesday.
And then the price of oil stays high, which means gas stays high, which means the price of consumer goods and food stays high.
Still a better idea than
Good f'ing grief. That money could help Americans hit by the #Bidenflation https://t.co/5TulgeE7I8
— William Teach2 ??????? #refuseresist (@WTeach2) March 8, 2022
