LETTER: Biden is a victim of the world economy
The recent Michael Ramirez editorial cartoon showing Biden’s “Economy Car” flying apart in mid-air should really show the world economy coming apart because inflation and high gasoline prices are global events.
Even a recent Review-Journal edition carried an article “G-20 financial officials talk inflation.” Yet every day we get news reports and misleading cartoons that make it seem as if these price increases are something only the United States is going through — and therefore the administration must be to blame.
Although not a great comfort to the consumer, these global issues are due to increased demand as the world has come out of the pandemic. The supply of goods is trying to keep up. The war in Ukraine has made the situation much worse. Companies are also increasing prices to make up for what they lost during the pandemic. This has led the oil companies to pocket large profits. In fact, what little we have invested in energy funds increased more than 50 percent last year and more than 40 percent this year.
So let’s put this world event in perspective: Inflation in the United Kingdom is 9.4 percent, in the European Union it’s at a 9.6 percent average and in Canada it’s 8.1 percent. In the United States it’s 9.1 percent. And gasoline prices in the United Kingdom are $8.50 a gallon, compared to $6.713 in Germany, $9.06 in Norway, $5.89 in Canada and $4.61 in the United States (as of July 25).