Poll Shows Majority of US Voters Oppose Triggering Recession to Battle Inflation
Amid fears by progressive economists that the U.S. Federal Reserve will move the country closer to a recession by raising interest rates, a new poll published Thursday revealed that American voters overwhelmingly oppose a call by former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers to tackle inflation by effectively taking jobs from millions of people.
“Larry Summers’ cure for fighting inflation is worse than the disease itself,” Groundwork Collaborative executive director Lindsay Owens said in a statement. “Manufacturing a recession and throwing millions out of work to bring down prices is not only cruel, it also reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of why prices are rising in the first place.”
The Data for Progress and Groundwork Collaborative survey of nearly 3,000 likely U.S. voters found that inflation was by far the most important economic problem facing the country today. This was true across the political spectrum, with 36% of Democrats, 49% of Independents, and 58% of Republicans saying inflation was their number one economic concern.
On Wednesday, Summers said it is “very unlikely” that inflation will decrease “without a significant economic downturn,” an outcome made more likely by an interest rate hike.
The Fed approved a 75-basis point interest rate increase last month and is considering the implementation of what would be a historic 100-basis point boost for later this month. Economists are warning that further interest rate hikes could cost millions of people their jobs and plunge the nation into recession.
Survey respondents rejected Summers’ argument that the unemployment rate should exceed 5% over the next five years to tame inflation, with only 6% of Democrats, 3% of Independents, and 6% of Republicans strongly agreeing with the former treasury secretary’s assertion.
The new poll was published in the wake of Wednesday’s news that the Consumer Price Index soared 9.1% over the past year, its biggest increase in more than 40 years.
Originally published at Commondreams.org, written by Brett Wilkins.
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