Millionaire Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen appeared out-of-touch when asked about inflation under President Joe Biden — insisting she goes to the grocery store “every week” and isn’t shocked by the skyrocketing prices.
Yellen was quick to shoot down a question about grocery prices, which are up 20% from before the Covid-19 pandemic, during an interview with Yahoo Finance’s Jennifer Schonberger on Monday.
“Have you been to the grocery store lately?” Schonberger asked Yellen in the interview.
“I sure have — I go every week,” Yellen replied.
“It’s sticker shock isn’t it? Just when you look at shipping costs, those have come down, global food commodity prices have also come down, but food prices still remain high. Should the US invest in agriculture to boost the food supply in this country?” Schonberger asked.
Yellen, who is worth an estimated $20 million, began to reply “No” before Schonberger even finished her question.
“I think largely it reflects cost increases, including labor cost increases that grocery firms have experienced, although there may be some increases in margins,” Yellen continued.
Yellen claimed she met with several grocery store CEOs, including the CEO of Target, who told her they were cutting costs for necessities all Americans need like bread, milk, diapers and other “core purchases.”
“I think that’s to be applauded, I think that kind of thing is helpful, but I would be reluctant to agree that we should be centralizing agriculture,” Yellen added.
The Treasury Secretary noted that she expects inflation to come down and hit “the Fed’s two percent target” by early next year.
This week, the Biden administration announced new steps to increase access to affordable housing, something Yellen says has been a factor in inflation and the dramatically high cost of living in post-pandemic years.
Yellen promoted the new initiative, which awards $85 million in housing funds to 21 state and local governments, during a Monday trip to Minneapolis.
With Post wires.
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