Even though gas prices are finally coming down, food prices continue to rise. And while politicians continue to point the finger and look for a scapegoat, a former Trump administration senior economic advisor says they are blaming the wrong villain.
"The reason that we have higher food prices at the grocery store today, are a result of external factors, not the producers trying to gauge consumers" said Stephen Moore, co-founder of Unleash Prosperity.
So, what exactly are those "external factors" that Moore is referring too?
"The real culprit here is higher fertilizer prices, the fact that we've had a drought in Texas and many of the Southern states" Moore told KTRH, adding that it is a combination of global disruptions, geopolitical instability, and misguided government policies both here and abroad. All of these factors have come together to make it harder to produce the inputs on which American agriculture relies.
And as for the best way to address the problem?
"We have to make sure that we have free market policies here at home that encourage farmer's to produce" noted Moore, "Even though people are really angry about food prices here, we have the cheapest food prices in the world because of our incredible farmer's, and because of our incredible free market economy."
He expects food prices to remain high over the summer, but then come down in the fall. The laws of economics have not changed. When supplies are constrained, prices rise. When food production and input supply rise again, prices will fall. You can read Stephen Moore's op-ed at the link below:
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/steve-moore-politicians-blaming-wrong-villain-americas-rising-food-prices
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