Government cash boosted demand when economy was struggling to produce, experts say
October 9, 2022 at 5:48 p.m. EDT
(Video: Luisa Jung for The Washington Post)
In a two-minute Oval Office ceremony in March of last year, President Biden marked a major legislative accomplishment, signing the nearly $2 trillion American Rescue Plan, designed to free the U.S. economy from the pandemic’s grip once and for all.
Smacking his pen on his White House desk, a satisfied Biden exclaimed “Got it!” before rising to leave the room.
Though some experts — even in his own party — warned that the new spending could cause the economy to overheat, administration officials saw little reason for concern. Just one day earlier, the Labor Department had put annual inflation at a tame 1.7 percent.
Yet even as the president beamed, forces were stirring that would put the rescue plan at the center of a debate over whether he had blundered with his…
