Former Obama official renews criticism of Biden over worsening inflation crisis

Steven Rattner, a former Treasury Department official under the Obama administration, is renewing his criticism over the growing U.S. inflation crisis following President Biden's claim that the rising cost of goods was due to supply chain problems. 

In a Thursday guest essay for The New York Times, Rattner added to his previous complaints about Biden's handling of the economy as he refuted the latter's "dishonest" claim, arguing that rising inflation was actually tied to shortages caused by increased demand amongst American consumers rather than the inability to get consumer goods from one place to another. 

"Supply issues are by no means the root cause of our inflation. Blaming inflation on supply lines is like complaining about your sweater keeping you too warm after you’ve added several logs to the fireplace," Rattner wrote, referencing the comments Biden made during an interview last week with NBC's Lester Holt. "The bulk of our supply problems are the product of an overstimulated economy, not the cause of it."

He added that the country was seeing a classic economic case of "too much money chasing too few goods," leading to higher prices and shortages, given the surge in demand. 

He then called on the White House to "be more honest" as it rolled out initiatives to combat shortages and increased prices.