Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen
By RICHIE MALOUF
THE CENTER SQUARE STAFF REPORTER
(The Center Square) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen admitted this week she was wrong and underestimated inflation, which continues to soar.
During an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Tuesday, Ms. Yellen said that she failed to anticipate that inflation would become such a significant problem.
“I think I was wrong then about the path that inflation would take,” she said, referencing a statement she made at the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Summit in May of last year.
“I don’t think there’s going to be an inflationary problem,” Ms. Yellen said at the time. “But if there is, the Fed will be counted on to address it.”
Ms. Yellen’s concession comes as Americans face record high gas prices with a national average of $4.67 per gallon of unleaded gas as of Wednesday, according to the American Automobile Association. That average has risen every day this week.
In California on Wednesday, the average price for a gallon of gas was $6.19 per gallon, according to AAA.
In Santa Barbara County, the average was $6.12 on Wednesday.
Nationally, food prices have risen by 9.4% since April of last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Ms. Yellen defended her previous comments during the CNN interview, though, saying, “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.”
News-Press Managing Editor Dave Mason contributed to this report.
