The latest task force creation will be led by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice.
It will be co-chaired by FTC Chair Lina Khan and Jonathan Kanter, the assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s antitrust division.
Over the past three years, the two federal agencies have been at the forefront of the administration’s regulatory agenda to confront the world’s largest corporations and their business practices.
The president and his team have asserted that companies’ pricing strategies have been the main reason consumers are not feeling the effects of easing inflation.
Officials say these efforts, whether through shrink-inflation or price gouging, are intended to keep their profits high.
“President Biden is committed to making sure corporations are held accountable when they try to rip off Americans, including when they break the law while keeping prices high,” the White House said in a statement.
The strike force plans to target “illegal corporate behavior” consisting of anti-competitive, deceptive, fraudulent, and unfair methods.
Regulatory officials will focus on vital sectors where corporations “may be violating the law and keeping prices high, including prescription drugs and health care, food and grocery, housing, financial services, and more.”
A sixth formal meeting of the White House Competition Council was also convened. This is a group of top administration officials assigned to stop anti-competitive processes across various industries.
The gathering announced three new actions to lower costs and advance competition, including the finalization of a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule to reduce credit card late fees from the present average of $32 to $8.
The White House estimates it will save consumers $10 billion a year.
In addition, the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) published a new report that discovered the administration’s war on junk fees will save consumers more than $20 billion per year.
Since arriving at the Oval Office, President Biden has established about a dozen task forces.
Critics argue that President Biden is trying to return government price controls, likening the latest efforts to that of former President Richard Nixon and his declaration that the U.S. government would set meat prices.
“This effort by the Biden administration to use regulatory agencies to micromanage how private businesses set prices will have the same result: shortages, fewer choices for consumers, a weaker economy, and less jobs,” said Neil Bradley, the executive vice president and chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Consumers Not Feeling Relief
Since peaking above 9 percent in June 2022, the annual inflation rate has slowed to 3 percent. Cumulatively, inflation has rocketed nearly 20 percent in the past three years.Because consumers have highlighted their frustration with prices being higher than before the coronavirus pandemic, the administration has blamed the private sector rather than its policies.
Surveys indicate that the American people might be pointing the finger at both.
“After more than two years of corporations posting record profits while Americans struggle to balance their checkbooks, it’s no surprise that people increasingly see corporate greed as a problem,” said Maryann Cousens, an associate of polling and analytics for Navigator Research.
As for what shoppers pay at the neighborhood supermarket or local hardware store, many U.S. officials have conceded that prices will not return to where they were before the public health crisis.
“I don’t expect the level of prices to go down. Some prices will be higher than they were before the pandemic, and will stay higher,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the Senate Banking Committee last month.
The stubbornness of inflation might also be influencing consumer sentiment.
“The decline in consumer confidence in February interrupted a three-month rise, reflecting persistent uncertainty about the U.S. economy,” said Dana Peterson, the chief economist at The Conference Board, in a statement.
More economists are also warning that there could be a revival of price pressures in the U.S. economy, making it similar to the ebb-and-flow pattern of the consumer price index in the 1980s.
Connor Lokar, an economist at ITR Economics, recently told The Epoch Times that the annual inflation rate could return to as high as 5 percent by next year.
According to Peter Schiff, the chief economist and global strategist at Euro Pacific Asset Management, inflation could reaccelerate to as high as 10 percent, telling The Epoch Times that federal spending, soaring debt, and ballooning budget deficits will exacerbate price pressures.
While many market observers do not anticipate inflation to return to 2022 levels, they warn that the path to the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent could be slower than expected.
The one component of the inflation metrics proving to be more challenging to defeat is services, such as accommodations, healthcare, restaurants, and transportation.
Amid concerns about the last mile in the inflation battle lingering in the 3 percent range, central bank economists have noted that this fear has no basis.
The public is unconvinced as reports show more consumers are skeptical that the Fed will restore price stability soon.
