Illinois Democrat Claims Inflation to be a Good Thing

As prices around the country rise, an Illinois Democrat stated that economists are saying “a little bit of inflation” is a “wonderful thing.” Rep. Sean Casten, D-Illinois, made the inflation allegation during a town hall meeting in Palatine Village, Illinois on Saturday. According to Casten, economists generally agree that a tiny bit of inflation — the depreciation of the dollar due to increased prices – is beneficial to the economy.

The lawmaker said, “There’s also, frankly, I think there’s a general consensus among economists that a little bit of inflation would actually be a good thing. Because the Federal Reserve has a mandate to keep interest rates manageable but non-zero and inflation manageable but not excessive.” According to a recent Fox News poll, 83 percent of Americans are “very” or “very” concerned about inflation, with both Democrat and Republicans citing inflation as a top issue.

Since the 2008 recession, the Federal Reserve has decreased interest rates multiple times, according to Casten, but inflation has not increased. So they had to keep trying to figure out how to make sure, since, after all, people would enjoy a little more money next year, right? Inflation is what it is. How can you ensure that you have a level of inflation that is, sort of, acceptable?

The outcome, according to the Democrat representative, was the Federal Reserve acquiring trillions of dollars of government securities to help the economy. So the Fed has a lot of unorthodox ordnance that they’d like to use, but they won’t be able to until inflation picks up a little bit. Mike Berg, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), told Fox News on Monday that it was strange to hear the congressman praise Americans paying greater prices for goods and services across the board.