Let’s put aside for a moment the Fed’s raising interest rates. To most people, what really matters is what they are paying for the “things” they need. Here’s an update.
Medical Costs Going Down: Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tackles this: lower premiums, reduced co-pays, negotiating drug costs, and the $35 cap on insulin. Obviously, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act are different, but both are offering reduced costs in one form or another. 100% of Republicans opposed the IRA.
Raise incomes: Two examples of this are Social Security recipients who are seeing an 8.7% increase for 2023, and Union members who have been standing together against companies who have been doing very well but not sharing the profits with their workers.
Invest in the future: Government can price-shop to get more bang for its buck, so negotiating on drugs is one way, but negotiating on all kinds of things the government needs, can save the taxpayer money. And a second way is to invest in lowering the cost of energy, e.g., the production of renewable energy (as legislated in the IRA). For the short term, encouraging extraction of fossil fuels can lower the price of gas at the pump — good for the short term but costly over time since the oil producers are masters at price-gouging.
Reforming the Tax Code: Again,the passage of the IRA focused on this. One way is to catch the big cheaters, and the IRA is updating the IRS computer systems and skill levels, as well as hiring more people. Clearly, there is much to be done, e.g., how is it that Trump was able to cheat big-time! on his New York taxes for at least a decade and the IRS never noticed? Another way is to increase taxes on the the top five percent of richest people in this country; many of them are asking for that.
These are just three of the steps in reducing inflation. Read more below.
Committee for Responsible Budget: Six Ways to Fight Inflation