Yellen Asked Point Blank About Inflation: 'What Do You Say' To Americans Trying To Make Ends Meet?

3 months ago

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was asked about what she would say to Americans who are yet to feel the benefits of Biden's economic policies.

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Transcript

00:00Secretary Yellen, first, thank you for being here.

00:02I have a question more about the economy domestically.

00:06Overall, inflation has gone down,

00:08but the average American is still

00:09struggling with everyday goods.

00:11I know here I've reported frequently

00:13on how the average person is supplementing their household

00:17food groceries with visits to the food bank.

00:19What do you say to those people who

00:22are not seeing the benefits of Biden's economic policy

00:24and every day are still trying to make ends meet?

00:27Well, I think the problems with Americans

00:32feeling that there are necessities of life that

00:36are just becoming unaffordable really date back some way.

00:41But the price increases that occurred during the pandemic

00:45made matters worse.

00:48And President Biden understands the struggles

00:50that American households face.

00:54Their affordable housing is extremely

00:58hard to find, limited in supply.

01:02President Biden has taken a number

01:05of steps to address that.

01:08We consider it a critical priority

01:10to increase the supply of affordable housing.

01:14Health care, President Biden's worked hard

01:18to make sure for seniors to limit co-pays on insulin

01:24to $35 and to limit overall co-pays that seniors face

01:31who are part of Medicare.

01:33And working to lower on a permanent basis,

01:39keep low the premiums for the Affordable Care Act.

01:44Child care is becoming unaffordable for so many

01:47Americans.

01:48President Biden has proposed ways to address that as well.

01:54President Biden wants to cut taxes for hardworking families.

01:59During the pandemic, we had in place a child tax credit

02:05so that a family with two children under the age of 16

02:12were receiving typically $600 on a monthly basis

02:16to help with expenses.

02:18And we saw the biggest reduction in the poverty rate

02:21by almost 50% as a consequence.

02:26So President Biden has made affordability his top priority.

02:32He's obviously taken steps in education

02:35for giving student loans and other things

02:40and trying to make sure that working families can afford

02:47a decent standard of living really is a top priority.

02:52All right.

02:52Thank you, everybody.

Yellen Asked Point Blank About Inflation: 'What Do You Say' To Americans Trying To Make Ends Meet?

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