Why the White House stopped telling the truth about inflation and corporate power

Starbucks is raising prices to consumers, blaming the rising costs of supplies. Photograph: Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images

The Biden White House has decided to stop tying inflation to corporate power. That’s a big mistake. I’ll get to the reason for the shift in a moment. First, I want to be clear about the relationship between inflation and corporate power.

While most of the price increases now affecting the US and global economies have been the result of global supply chain problems, this doesn’t explain why big and hugely profitable corporations are passing these cost increases on to their customers in the form of higher prices.