President Joe Biden and his team are in the process of tackling the increasing energy prices. This rapid surge in price has affected the nation’s ability to recover from the post-pandemic recession.
In light of this current situation, the White House has requested the Federal Trade Commission to assess the gasoline market and determine if the onset of anti-competitive behavior is hiking energy prices. Even the national security adviser Jake Sullivan has asked the institute of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to work towards petroleum replenishment.
With the immense pressure arising due to high inflation, the governing bodies are in a rush to control the sudden changes in energy prices.
“Higher gasoline costs, if left unchecked, risk harming the ongoing global recovery,” said Sullivan in a public statement.
Sullivan also added that the Biden administration is urging OPEC to reverse the production cuts that were initiated at the beginning of the pandemic. According to Biden, these production cuts should be reversed “as the global economy recovers to lower prices for consumers.”
Brian Deese, who serves as the director of Biden’s National Economic Council questioned the FTC and asked them to keep the gasoline market in check. In conversation with head Lina Khan, Deese required an exhaustive assessment to ascertain any illegal conduct that may be leading to a significant rise in prices.
Additionally, Wednesday’s Labor Department report goes to show that consumer prices have seen a slight decrease in prices from June to July. However, there is a major increase of 5.4% from the year before, thus reducing the benefits available to workers with higher pay.
As far as gas prices are concerned, there seems to be a little increase of about $1 from the previous year. This number isn’t alarming as most Americans are now hitting the roads after the pandemic closed down most places.
Biden affirmed that gas price is more or less close to what it was in 2018. But he also admitted that these prices may be high enough to be a problem for working families. Given this information, the President aims to ensure a clear route for oil prices to go down and resultantly, consumers having to pay little for gas.
