The president will also call on states to temporarily suspend state fuel taxes, which are often higher than federal rates, and he will challenge major oil companies to bring back idled refining capacity.
Particularly galling to the White House is the jump in industry stock buybacks, returning to investors profits that the administration wants invested in more refining capacity to bring gasoline prices down.
Biden also said his staff would meet with oil industry executives this week after he told U.S. refiners in a letter last week that unprecedented profit margins are unacceptable and called for “immediate action” to improve capacity.
The average price of gas in Minnesota and nationwide hit record highs last week, including at $4.98 per gallon nationwide on Monday, according to AAA. The national average rose to $5 a gallon last week for the first time.
More than a year later, price increases at 40-year peaks have proven to be anything but, so much so that the Fed this week appears ready to hike interest rates by the most since 1994 to quell them.
Summary: What we saw in the Biden speech and the White House statement is another attempt to fool the public into believing that the failed policies of the past can be made to succeed if the president repeatedly declares his faith in them.
Airlines, hotels, rental car companies and booking sites all reported a surge in demand for their services in the latest batch of company earnings. But at the same time, many of those companies face a tight labor market and limited volume.
Summary: While policymakers are well-equipped to fight inflation, that’s cold comfort for the birds and those who care about them. Even in the heavily subsidized world of agriculture, government protection isn’t usually enough to make producers whole when they’re forced to destroy commercial flocks.
Bird flu has wiped out more than 19 million egg-laying chickens on commercial U.S. farms this year in the worst outbreak since 2015, eliminating about 6% of the country's flock.
April 14, 2022 09:31 AM
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By Tom Polansek and Sybille de La Hamaide / Reuters
