According to a survey conducted between July 9 and July 11, 2022, ** percent of Americans thought that Joe Biden was highly responsible for the current trend in the inflation rate. This is compared to ** percent of Americans who said President Biden did not have a lot of responsibility for the current inflation rate.

Inflation in the U.S. Global events in 2022 had a significant impact on the United States. Inflation rose from *** percent in January 2021 to *** percent in June 2022. Significantly higher prices of basic goods led to increased concern over the state of the economy, and the ability to cover increasing monthly costs with the same income. Low interest rates, COVID-19-related supply constraints, corporate profiteering, and strong consumer spending had already put pressure on prices before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Despite rising wages on paper, the rapid growth of consumer prices resulted in an overall decline in real hourly earnings in the first half of 2022.

How much control does Joe Biden have over inflation? The bulk of economic performance and the inflation rate is determined by factors outside the President’s direct control, but U.S. presidents are often held accountable for it. Some of those factors are market forces, private business, productivity growth, the state of the global economy, and policies of the Federal Reserve. Although high-spending decisions such as the 2021 COVID-19 relief bill may have contributed to rising inflation rates, the bill has been seen by economists as a necessary intervention for preventing a recession at the time, as well as being of significant importance to low-income workers impacted by the pandemic.

The most important tool for curbing inflation and controlling the U.S. economy is the Federal Reserve. The Reserve has the ability to set, raise, and lower interest rates and determine the wider monetary policy for the United States – something out of the president’s control. In June 2022, the Reserve announced it would raise interest rates **** percent for the second time that year – hoisting the rate to a target range of **** to *** percent – in an attempt to slow consumer demand and balance demand with supply. However, it can often take time before the impacts of interventions by the Federal Reserve are seen in the public’s day-to-day lives. Most economists expect this wave of inflation to pass in a year to 18 months.

The global fuel energy price index stood at 157.89 index points in September 2025, up from 100 in the base year 2016. Figures decreased that month due to a fall in natural gas prices. The fuel energy index includes prices for crude oil, natural gas, coal, and propane. Supply constraints across multiple commodities The global natural gas price index surged nearly 11-fold, and the global coal price index rose almost seven-fold from summer 2020 to summer 2022. This notable escalation was largely attributed to the Russia-Ukraine war, exerting increased pressure on the global supply chain. Tariffs bring economic uncertainty With the global economy having adjusted to the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war, new uncertainty has emerged due to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. If these tariffs are fully implemented, global trade could be significantly disrupted, mainly the bilateral trade between the world’s two largest economies. In 2025, import tariffs between China and the United States exceeded 130 percent on both sides, while their tariffs on imports from the rest of the world were around 10 percent. U.S. tariffs on Chinese imported goods reached a high of 134.7 percent in April of that year, while China imposed a 147.6 percent tariff on U.S. goods. Early estimates indicate that the impact of Trump’s proposed tariffs on the U.S. economy could amount to 0.4 percent of GDP, mainly driven by the reduced trade with Mexico, Canada and China.