Just to follow up on this post from Saturday where President Joe Biden told gas station owners to just lower prices because “this is a time of war and global peril,” billionaire Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezo declared, in the nicest way possible, that our elderly president is either lying or economically illiterate:
“Ouch. Inflation is far too important a problem for the White House to keep making statements like this. It’s either straight ahead misdirection or a deep misunderstanding of basic market dynamics.”
Ouch. Inflation is far too important a problem for the White House to keep making statements like this. It’s either straight ahead misdirection or a deep misunderstanding of basic market dynamics. https://t.co/XgKfEICZpk
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) July 3, 2022
But that didn’t sit well with White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. She tweeted:
“Oil prices have dropped by about $15 over the past month, but prices at the pump have barely come down. That’s not ‘basic market dynamics.’ It’s a market that is failing the American consumer.”
Oil prices have dropped by about $15 over the past month, but prices at the pump have barely come down.
That’s not “basic market dynamics.” It’s a market that is failing the American consumer. https://t.co/xpsK0QsQPT
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) July 3, 2022
And then should took this swipe at Bezos:
“But I guess it’s not surprising that you think oil and gas companies using market power to reap record profits at the expense of the American people is the way our economy is supposed to work.”
But I guess it’s not surprising that you think oil and gas companies using market power to reap record profits at the expense of the American people is the way our economy is supposed to work.
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) July 3, 2022
But back to Bezos’ point . . . do they really not know how markets work? Because that might be scarier than them lying about it:
In the oil crisis of the 1970s, America lowered the speed limit to 55mph, introduced fuel economy standards for new cars and even tried gasoline rationing to try to reduce demand for oil. All to reduce demand and reduce the price. Now? Begging private firms to just charge less https://t.co/zd4pbex0ML
— Daniel Knowles (@dlknowles) July 2, 2022
And, yet, the official White House response is doubling down on it:
I keep thinking about this tweet and am continually baffled. When things are so obviously bad, "we feel your pain and we're doing our best" is much better political messaging than "we're in denial about how this is happening so let's blame others." https://t.co/N4AzqeEJTB
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) July 3, 2022
***
Related:
Join the conversation as a VIP Member