By The FirstTreasury Secretary Janet Yellen addressed the American people Wednesday as the nation continued to grapple with multiple economic crises; admitting the Biden administration was “wrong” when it predicted inflation would be a temporary obstacle.
“I think I was wrong then about the path that inflation would take,” Yellen told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on “The Situation Room.”
“As I mentioned, there have been unanticipated and large shocks to the economy that have boosted energy and food prices and supply bottlenecks that have affected our economy badly that I didn’t — at the time — didn’t fully understand, but we recognize that now,” she said.
“The Secretary was pointing out that there have been shocks to the economy that have exacerbated inflationary pressures which couldn’t have been foreseen 18 months ago, including Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine, multiple successive variants of COVID, and lockdowns in China,” a Treasury spokesperson later clarified. “As she also noted, there has been historic growth and record job creation and our goal is now to transition to steady and stable growth as inflation is brought down.”
Watch Yellen’s comments above.
