President Biden held a meeting with White House officials to find a solution for the inflation rate crippling small businesses and consumers alike. According to the Labor Department and its Consumer Price Index, the inflation rate in the U.S. has risen at the fastest rate since 1982 in 2021.
Biden Outlines Inflation Plan to Lower Prices Nationwide
On Monday (Jan. 24) the President met with members of his White House Competition Council to see if they could focus on promoting economic competition and driving down prices for consumers. This comes one year after Biden took office followed by 40-year record-high inflation in that same year.
The question is, will the White House Competition Council help small business owners with lower prices for the supplies they need to run their company? From chicken to beef, paint, lumber, cream cheese, and more, the shortage followed by the price increase is hard to bear for many small businesses. And passing the cost to their customers doesn’t always work. This is because most small businesses serve their communities, which are also struggling with the 40-year high inflation.
The President has been addressing issues such as promoting more competition, blocking mergers and acquisitions, right to repair, broadband internet, and even allowing Americans to buy hearing aids without a prescription over the counter. While these proposals might lower prices, in the long run, small businesses and ordinary Americans are feeling the pain of inflation right now.
The President is also pushing the stalled multi-trillion-dollar Build Back Better proposal with the hope that it will help Americans. Again, this is a solution that might never come to pass if the voting continues on the same path.
Can Biden’s inflation plan lower prices for small businesses, the answer is maybe. But a more relevant question is, when is it going to happen? Because as it stands now, the administration is making nothing but promises and they want the American people to be grateful for what they haven’t received yet. In the meantime, small business owners are in dire straits.
The current situation can best be summed up by co-owner Rebecca Miller of Peggy Jean’s Pies in Columbia, Missouri. In a report by U.S. News Miller said, “We can’t absorb that cost and still meet wage demands, increased cost of goods in our tins and boxes, and afford to live as a family.” A 40% increase in pecans, as well as increases in other supplies, is what has led to the exasperated comment.
And the price increases are affecting small business owners across a wide range of industries. With 31+ million small businesses in the U.S., how they are impacted is going to affect the employment status of the 58.9 million people working for them.
The Biden administration needs to find solutions quickly in order to keep all of these businesses open and their employees working.
Image: Depositphotos
This article, "Can Biden’s Inflation Plan Lower Prices for Small Business Owners?" was first published on Small Business Trends
via https://www.aiupnow.com
Michael Guta, Khareem Sudlow
