Treasury Secretary Says US Not Losing Control Over Inflation as Twitter CEO Issues Dire Warning

Jack Phillips
By Jack Phillips
October 24, 2021Business News
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Treasury Secretary Says US Not Losing Control Over Inflation as Twitter CEO Issues Dire Warning
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testifies during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on the CARES Act, at the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, on Sept. 28, 2021. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey issued a warning about rising inflation over the weekend as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday said the United States isn’t losing control.

“Hyperinflation is going to change everything. It’s happening,” Dorsey wrote on Twitter, later continuing to say: “It will happen in the U.S. soon, and so the world.”

twitter-dorsey
Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and co-founder & CEO of Square, attends the crypto-currency conference Bitcoin 2021 Convention at the Mana Convention Center in Miami, Fla., on June 4, 2021. (Marco Bello/AFP via Getty Images)

During an interview on Sunday with CNN, Yellen said that inflation levels would return to normal by the second half of next year. The Treasury Secretary made the remarks in context of promoting President Joe Biden’s domestic infrastructure and social spending packages worth trillions of dollars combined, saying the two programs would be implemented over 10 years.

“I don’t think we’re about to lose control of inflation,” Yellen said. “On a 12-month basis, the inflation rate will remain high into next year because of what’s already happened. But I expect improvement by the middle to end of next year… second half of next year,” she added.

Supply chain snags have bedeviled the United States and other countries as economic reopenings have spurred a surge in demand, she continued.

“As we make further progress on the pandemic, I expect these bottlenecks to subside. Americans will return to the labor force as conditions improve,” she said.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testifies
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testifies during the House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington on Sept. 30, 2021. (Sarah Silbiger/Pool via Reuters)

However, a group that represents UPS, FedEx, and other air cargo companies issued a warning that the looming Biden vaccine mandate for federal contractors on Dec. 8 will trigger supply chain chaos. With that mandate coming in the midst of the Christmas shopping season, they argued that will further “adversely impact needed operations” and noted that worker shortages are already persistent.

Meanwhile, a report from the Department of Labor released earlier this month found that the U.S. consumer price inflation is running near a 30-year high. Year-over-year prices in September are up by 5.4 percent, its report found, noting price increases for food, cars, and other staple goods.

Procter & Gamble and Unilever, which both make consumer goods, both announced in recent days that they would increase prices on certain goods amid worsening inflation.

Unilever finance chief Graeme Pitkethly saw little letup in inflationary pressures and warned that “we expect inflation could be higher next year than this year,” Reuters reported.

Procter & Gamble’s price hikes are not being implemented on all its products, but they will be marked for specific items such as razors and in some sub-categories, CFO Andre Schulten said, reported Reuters. U.S. retailers are aware of the new sticker prices, he added.

“We announced price increases to retailers in the U.S. on oral care, skin care, and grooming,” Schulten said in a conference call. “It’s item by item,” he added.

From The Epoch Times