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Speaker 1: The Biden administration tries to change the narrative on inflation,
Speaker 1: will OPEC threatens to squeeze out Russia just as the
Speaker 1: Europeans shut off the oil spigot. Welcome to the fastest
Speaker 1: hour in politics. After a Memorial Day weekend with record
Speaker 1: high gas prices and as you just heard from Doug Chrisner,
Speaker 1: Texas crude back above a hundred and fifteen dollars on
Speaker 1: the way to a hundred and twenty today, we're gonna
Speaker 1: talk just ahead with the sage of the oil patch.
Speaker 1: Daniel Jurgen will be with as vice chairman of SNP
Speaker 1: Global and as President Biden sits down today with J Powell,
Speaker 1: the FED Chair in the Oval Office. We're gonna talk
Speaker 1: about the fight to lower prices with Presidential advisor Jene Spurling,
Speaker 1: a veteran of three administrations, although the scenario he's facing
Speaker 1: now is quite unlike any other. The sound on panel
Speaker 1: is back from an extra long weekend. Bloomberg Politics contributors
Speaker 1: Genie Chantino and Rick Davis are with us for the hour.
Speaker 1: So here we go, the White House turning its attention
Speaker 1: back to the economy now that we're all back from
Speaker 1: the long weekend. I hope you had one just driving
Speaker 1: around in circles. See if the news reports are correct.
Speaker 1: That's what we do right Memorial Day. We just drive
Speaker 1: driving around, calling each other, refilling our tanks with gas
Speaker 1: and with the taste of five dollar gas in our mouths.
Speaker 1: The administration is turning to a full court summer press
Speaker 1: on the issue that they see mattering most, inflation. The
Speaker 1: President met today with FED share J Powell. Treasury Secretary
Speaker 1: Janet Yellen was in the room as well, comfortable on
Speaker 1: the couch as the presidents sitting near the fireplace. They
Speaker 1: let reporters in the room. I'm not sure what people
Speaker 1: expected by all this, but here's President Biden today in
Speaker 1: the Oval. My plan is addressed inflation starts with a
Speaker 1: simple proposition, Respect the FED. Respect the Fed's independent, which
Speaker 1: I have done and will continue to do. So what
Speaker 1: we've been saying, independent Fed. And I'll remind you that
Speaker 1: we're talking later this hour with Jeane Spurling on this.
Speaker 1: Of course, even the FED can't really impact the price
Speaker 1: of oil, though, and that's been a big issue. One
Speaker 1: of the big stories of the day, West Texas Intermediate
Speaker 1: approaching a hundred and twenty dollars a barrel as the
Speaker 1: Europeans agreed to band Russian oil at least almost all
Speaker 1: of it gave back the gains. On this headline, though,
Speaker 1: opek ways exempting Russia from oil production deal. And that's
Speaker 1: where we start with a voice of experience in the
Speaker 1: oil market and the politics that surrounded. Daniel Jorgan is
Speaker 1: Vice chair S and p Global, author of the Polister
Speaker 1: winning book The Prize The Epic Quest for Oil, Money
Speaker 1: and Power, and he's with us now. Daniel, welcome back.
Speaker 1: When you consider a China that is re emerging from
Speaker 1: its latest COVID shutdown on top of everything else I
Speaker 1: just mentioned. Can oil prices go anywhere but up this summer?
Speaker 1: I think the only thing that would bring him down
Speaker 1: is a is a big downturn in the economy. But
Speaker 1: with Chinese demands, some of it has been shut off
Speaker 1: because of COVID and the shutdown, and if China opens up,
Speaker 1: that can add more demand and more pressure in oil prices.
Speaker 1: I mentioned OPEC maybe squeezing out Russia. So is the
Speaker 1: report from earlier today because of the European ban? What
Speaker 1: would that mean for Moscow? Well, I think it's it's
Speaker 1: kind of inevitable because the idea of this OPEC plus
Speaker 1: field that was put together was that they would progressively
Speaker 1: bring more oil back into the market for hundred thousand
Speaker 1: barrels a day. But Russian production is headed in the
Speaker 1: opposite direction. It's going down, so it's kind of irrelevant
Speaker 1: to be part of this deal. And I think, uh
Speaker 1: so it would mean stepping back from Russia's engagement and
Speaker 1: that might give the OPEC country some more flexibility. But
Speaker 1: you know, one thing, Joe that gets lost in the discussion.
Speaker 1: There isn't a lot of more. There is not a
Speaker 1: lot more oil to squeeze out of OPEC, is not
Speaker 1: much of what they call spare capacity, and it's just
Speaker 1: really in two countries at Arabia and the UAE. Well
Speaker 1: can those two countries make up the difference? Though? Would
Speaker 1: that would that keep prices stable? Well? I think if
Speaker 1: they said, for instance, they announced that they're going to
Speaker 1: put more on the market, that would affect the psychology
Speaker 1: of the market. But it's a sort of it's a
Speaker 1: double edged sword because on the one hand, they have
Speaker 1: some more oil they could put in the market, but
Speaker 1: then people are in the market would say, oh, my gosh,
Speaker 1: there's no virtually no spare capacity, which is a sort
Speaker 1: of the security blanket, and say this market is really tight,
Speaker 1: and if something happens, prices will shoot up anyway. I
Speaker 1: mean it would be well contented, would be psychologically significant. Uh.
Speaker 1: And you know, if they get divorced in effect from
Speaker 1: Russia as part of this OPEC plus deal, that would
Speaker 1: give them more flexibility to ease more oil into the market.
Speaker 1: Does that also encourage Russia to sell more discount oil
Speaker 1: to China and India? I mean, it's got to come
Speaker 1: out the other end at some point right. Well, well,
Speaker 1: particularly I think that what we saw today with the
Speaker 1: European announcement. It's taken a few weeks to get it done,
Speaker 1: but it's basically what they're doing is dismantling Russia's status
Speaker 1: is an energy superpower. And so Russia will still move
Speaker 1: its oil, but you know, it took a week to
Speaker 1: send oil by tanker to Europe, will take a month,
Speaker 1: uh and the and it will be at a big discount.
Speaker 1: You know, the Indians are paying less for oil than
Speaker 1: people are parent paying elsewhere in the world, and so
Speaker 1: that will cup Russia. It doesn't automatically mean that tomorrow
Speaker 1: rushes uh energy revenues are gonna go down, but it
Speaker 1: certainly means that Russia is not going to be a
Speaker 1: player in the same way it was in the past.
Speaker 1: There'll still be a big producer, but it's not going
Speaker 1: to be an energy superpower over after the next few months. Daniel,
Speaker 1: what's your thought when when President Biden mentions the Putin
Speaker 1: price hike or some of the other names that he
Speaker 1: has for we were talking about high oil prices. The
Speaker 1: last time that that w C I was I think
Speaker 1: at these levels was before the invasion or just shortly
Speaker 1: after I guess at the beginning of March. But we've
Speaker 1: been talking about this for months, Daniel. Is it fair
Speaker 1: for President Biden to to to make this a war
Speaker 1: only phenomenon. Well, it's certainly, you know, the war is
Speaker 1: an important part of it. But I think you've you've
Speaker 1: actually made a point that has gotten lost in the
Speaker 1: discussion we were going into uh Basically this global energy
Speaker 1: crisis started last autumn. It's because something I talked about
Speaker 1: in The New Map, which is my new book, which
Speaker 1: is that there's been like a preemptive under investment in
Speaker 1: UH in energy supplies. So we had very tight markets
Speaker 1: going into this, into this crisis. And so you're absolutely right,
Speaker 1: those prices were already up basically starting the round October.
Speaker 1: It started whole natural gas and then oil. So is
Speaker 1: it is it possible to answer this question? And I
Speaker 1: realized there are a lot of cross currents and and frankly,
Speaker 1: prices I realized can move in anticipation of things happening.
Speaker 1: But what would be the price of oil if Russia
Speaker 1: had not invaded Ukraine? Where would w T I B today?
Speaker 1: Oh boy, that's a good question. I think it would
Speaker 1: have you know, the price would not probably would not
Speaker 1: be as high, it would not be as high as
Speaker 1: as it is right now. Uh. I mean you have
Speaker 1: to look at sort of what's happening to the overall economy.
Speaker 1: But you know you did. I mean basically going into this,
Speaker 1: you had the three big three of oil or Russia,
Speaker 1: the United States, in Saudi Arabia, and Russia's production is
Speaker 1: going to go down, uh inevitably the result of this,
Speaker 1: and uh so, I think what this has done is
Speaker 1: made it more protracted. And what it's also doing is,
Speaker 1: uh is kind of uh upsetting, sort of destabilizing the
Speaker 1: way oil is slowed around the world, you know, the system.
Speaker 1: And I'll give you one example. You talked about gasoline prices, Well, Russia.
Speaker 1: I mean a lot of refiners have closed down in
Speaker 1: the US and elsewhere because it's thought these other refineries,
Speaker 1: like you know, Russia is provided as part of this
Speaker 1: global system. So we've got a refining bottleneck on top
Speaker 1: of it. Yes, exactly what does that mean for gas
Speaker 1: prices this summer? I realize you're you're focused on on
Speaker 1: the oil market here, but retail gasoline in this country
Speaker 1: could see new highs than based on this. This backrop. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that, uh, unless something really changes that it's
Speaker 1: gonna not gonna be a Motors are going to feel
Speaker 1: the front of it. And if they feel the front
Speaker 1: of it this summer, it will reverberate under November elections.
Speaker 1: And that's of course what the Biden administration is very
Speaker 1: worried about up. It was really when gasoline prices started
Speaker 1: going at last November that they started saying, well, can
Speaker 1: we get production up? Instead of not paying attention to it. Daniel,
Speaker 1: you'regan leave it to me to ask you the hard
Speaker 1: question with a minute left, But but you know, you
Speaker 1: know who you're talking to here right With that said,
Speaker 1: is there anything then Joe Biden can do this summer.
Speaker 1: We've already tapped the reserve or even talking about refilling
Speaker 1: it at this point. Is there anything they can do
Speaker 1: to make a meaningful change in oil prices or is
Speaker 1: that getting to be a question too cute for you? Well?
Speaker 1: I think that a better you know, a better coordination
Speaker 1: on a global basis would certainly help to deal with
Speaker 1: what you talked about the bottlenext before. And it's quite
Speaker 1: possible that they'll release more oil from the strategic reserve
Speaker 1: and if they hadn't released the oil that they have
Speaker 1: done with the higher prices. So it's a tough problem
Speaker 1: for the Biden administration, be tough for any administration. Man, Daniel,
Speaker 1: you'regan great to have you back. As always, Vice chair
Speaker 1: SMP Global and a true expert runs the Serio week
Speaker 1: conference as well down in Houston, where we spent some time,
Speaker 1: of course a couple of months ago, and boy, this
Speaker 1: was the same conversation then, and the prices are a
Speaker 1: lot higher now. We're gonna assemble the panel next and
Speaker 1: see where Rick and Genie are on all of this.
Speaker 1: As we kind of morphed this into a bigger conversation
Speaker 1: about inflation. Gene Spirling is going to join us a
Speaker 1: bit later on this hour from the White House. Of course,
Speaker 1: a veteran, as I mentioned, of three administrations and has
Speaker 1: the ear of this president on all things economic, he
Speaker 1: knows about this new push into the issue of inflation today.
Speaker 1: If you didn't mention or didn't notice the full Court Press,
Speaker 1: it is underway. We'll check markets and traffic for you
Speaker 1: as well. Welcome to the fastest hour in politics. We're
Speaker 1: back from the long weekend and joining you live from
Speaker 1: the nation's capital. Rick and Genie are up next. I'm
Speaker 1: Joe Matthew. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg. So long
Speaker 1: with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. You do start feeling
Speaker 1: like we're setting up a road warrior moving here right
Speaker 1: forget about top gun for a second. The gas is
Speaker 1: too expensive. Let's assemble the panel now for some insights
Speaker 1: into all of this. Bloomberg Politics contributors Jeanie Chantano and
Speaker 1: Rick Davis an essential part of the fastest hour in politics. Genie,
Speaker 1: I hope you had a great and long weekend. If
Speaker 1: Daniel Jurgen is our advisor here as we map out
Speaker 1: of all of our solutions to the world's problems, he
Speaker 1: is a pretty good one. There's nothing, if I heard correctly,
Speaker 1: there's really just nothing the White House can do but
Speaker 1: watch the oil market, much like the rest of us. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you you saved that last difficult question. And he he said,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe release some more oil. They've already done that.
Speaker 1: Better coordination on a global scale. And you know one
Speaker 1: thing I think it's important to note. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: he said rightly. So we're looking at two available sources.
Speaker 1: We're really looking at the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and
Speaker 1: you look at what the West has done visa v
Speaker 1: those two countries and the last you know, five plus
Speaker 1: years Biden describing you know, Saudi Arabia as a parias state.
Speaker 1: There was you know, the notion that the oil industry
Speaker 1: is dying. You had Europe focusing on you know, solar hydrogen,
Speaker 1: all those kinds of things, and so you really don't
Speaker 1: see much incentive for Saudi Arabia to cooperate at this point,
Speaker 1: which is a big problem. Now. I'm not suggesting that
Speaker 1: we shouldn't have called him a parias state for the
Speaker 1: human rights violations, but you know, you have a policy
Speaker 1: that makes it now in Saudi Arabia's you know, gives
Speaker 1: them little incentive to cooperate with the West at this point,
Speaker 1: and that's a huge, huge problem when they are one
Speaker 1: of the two sources out there. Therefore, Rick Davis, call
Speaker 1: it the Putin price hike and get on with it,
Speaker 1: right if this is not something that we can really
Speaker 1: affect between now in November. Yeah, I noticed today in
Speaker 1: the meeting with Chairman Pal there was very little conversation
Speaker 1: about gasoline prices, dancing around sort of the most obvious
Speaker 1: problem that American consumers are having right now. I mean,
Speaker 1: Americans are on the move. They spent two years sitting
Speaker 1: in COVID waiting for this moment to gas up the
Speaker 1: car and head for the road. And now they no
Speaker 1: longer fear COVID. That they fear is the price of gas.
Speaker 1: And today the retail price, according to Triple A, hit
Speaker 1: its highest ever for unleaded UH in the last five
Speaker 1: or four dollars and sixty two cents. Well, it's a
Speaker 1: horrible report card for this administration. That is an average
Speaker 1: four dollars point six one nine per gallon, to Rick
Speaker 1: Davis's point here, a record high from Triple A. And
Speaker 1: we're going to get more record high as if Daniel
Speaker 1: Daniel Jurgen's thesis is correct here, right, Jeanie, So you've
Speaker 1: got to start deflecting if you're going to handle this
Speaker 1: from a political standpoint, and unless you're finding new sources
Speaker 1: of energy, that's right, And you know they are, you
Speaker 1: know we as we talked about last week, they're trying
Speaker 1: to with Saudi Arabia. They're trying to take some steps.
Speaker 1: But you know, I thought, gosh, did I feel badly
Speaker 1: for Jerome Powell to a certain extent today because you know,
Speaker 1: you had the President parading him in front of everybody's
Speaker 1: saying he won't interfere with the Fed. This guy now
Speaker 1: has the toughest job maybe in the world, because he
Speaker 1: has now been pointed as the poster child for if
Speaker 1: you don't do this, it's your fault you and putin
Speaker 1: quite frankly, and but what else can the president do
Speaker 1: because his hands are basically tied, and so you know
Speaker 1: you're gonna saying prices go up. There's no political win
Speaker 1: here for the White House but to try to deflect
Speaker 1: and to say that they're looking towards the people who
Speaker 1: have the power. I love the President's quote today when
Speaker 1: he said he wouldn't interfere. Of course, you're not gonna
Speaker 1: interfere with the Fed. You have nothing that you can
Speaker 1: do at your disposal. Man, you're giving me harper And here, Genie,
Speaker 1: imagine Rick being that guy. You're sitting on the couch
Speaker 1: the presidents saying, you know, I I defer entirely to Rick.
Speaker 1: Faith is here when it comes to inflation, the number
Speaker 1: one issue for Americans at home, and you're thinking, oh
Speaker 1: my god, I think my mom's called Yeah, who knew
Speaker 1: there was a trap door in the Oval Office. I
Speaker 1: mean like Pal fell right through it today. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, how would you like to sit there with
Speaker 1: the president? I mean, just one thing. It's worth it though,
Speaker 1: Uh you know I I think that the abject failure
Speaker 1: of leadership today in the Oval Office with Chairman Pale
Speaker 1: on on behalf of Joe Biden was not worth the
Speaker 1: price of admission. I mean, basically, what Joe Biden told
Speaker 1: the American public is pound sound. This is a guy
Speaker 1: who's unelected, he reports to Congress. I have no influence
Speaker 1: on on Chairman Pale, and I wouldn't want to have
Speaker 1: any influence on Chairman Pal. But he is the reason
Speaker 1: you're gonna have so much pain in the grocery stores
Speaker 1: and at the pump at the gas station. I mean,
Speaker 1: don't blame me. I mean, like that's the biggest buck passing.
Speaker 1: I thought the buck stopped on the Oval Office desk,
Speaker 1: didn't get passed over to Chairman pal desk. But what's
Speaker 1: he gonna do though sending out tweets like Donald Trump
Speaker 1: and say what's wrong with your hike? It interest rates
Speaker 1: at a time like this, or I mean the alternative
Speaker 1: brings criticism as well. Right, No, Look, I mean, if
Speaker 1: he agrees with Pal's strategy of tightening, then he should
Speaker 1: say so. Obviously, giving support and an effort to the
Speaker 1: Chairman of the FED is always a positive thing. He's
Speaker 1: not immune from being able to comment. But but at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, the balls in his court.
Speaker 1: I mean, like I disagree with Jennie. Why wouldn't you
Speaker 1: get the you know, head of Saudi Arabia, the head
Speaker 1: of you a e you know, in a meeting somewhere
Speaker 1: on zoom or in person, dropped the pretense that somehow
Speaker 1: all these people are bad folks. They do only one thing,
Speaker 1: They pump gas, and so if we have a gas problem,
Speaker 1: we should be talking to them at some level of government.
Speaker 1: Doesn't have to be Biden. We are approaching the Saudia's right,
Speaker 1: and they're taking criticism for that. Genie. The obviously, the
Speaker 1: whole Kashogi story is going to come up again as
Speaker 1: soon as we start talking NBS. It absolutely will. And
Speaker 1: you know, I wasn't suggesting we shouldn't engage with them.
Speaker 1: What I was saying was from Saudi Arabia's perspective. Both
Speaker 1: the United States and Europe's treatment of them over the
Speaker 1: last five to seven years has been given them little
Speaker 1: incentive to cooperate with more production at this point. And
Speaker 1: by the way, they're making a lot of money given
Speaker 1: the current pricing situation. So you know, this is a
Speaker 1: misstep from a policy perspective, but probably the right stance
Speaker 1: from a human rights perspective. And the Biden administration Europe
Speaker 1: walked right into it. And it's not just human rights.
Speaker 1: They also did it over climate and other things. So
Speaker 1: this is where we find ourselves today. I kind of
Speaker 1: like this conversation. I like where this hour is going.
Speaker 1: Rick and Genie each got an extra hour. They got
Speaker 1: their wheaties and they're here for the hour. The sound
Speaker 1: on panel, Genie Tanzano and Rick Davis. I'm Joe Matthew.
Speaker 1: We bring in Gene Sperling next from the White House
Speaker 1: and his view on inflation. This is Bloomberg Broadcasting line
Speaker 1: from our nation's capital, Bloomberg to New York, Bloomberg van
Speaker 1: Frio to Boston, Bloomberg one oh six one to San
Speaker 1: Francisco Bloomberg nine six, to the Country Serious x M
Speaker 1: General one nine and around the globe. The Bloomberg Business
Speaker 1: app and Bloomberg Radio dot Com. This is Bloomberg Sound
Speaker 1: On with Joe Matthew. It is getting hot in Washington.
Speaker 1: That is not clever writing. It's actually really hot in Washington.
Speaker 1: Ninety six degrees right now. Yeah, still ninety six degrees
Speaker 1: humid in the Capitol. You can hear the air conditioners buzzing,
Speaker 1: helping to remind us all of our thirst for energy.
Speaker 1: Record high gas prices today. Energy could be the stickiest
Speaker 1: part of the inflation story. And we're going to get
Speaker 1: into all of this coming up with the President's senior adviser,
Speaker 1: Gene Sperling. Rarely has so much been made of a
Speaker 1: single meeting Biden in rare Powell meat. I see the
Speaker 1: headline on the terminal seeks to deflect inflation blame. We
Speaker 1: did discuss this in the Indo. Endn't fed earlier this hour.
Speaker 1: President Biden has not changed as two And I'm just
Speaker 1: not sure what people were imagining was going to happen.
Speaker 1: You know, they're gonna sit there and sort of solve
Speaker 1: this today in the Oval Office, maybe light of fire.
Speaker 1: I don't know what people thought would happen. But the
Speaker 1: Treasury Secretary was there as well, Janet Yellen, and so
Speaker 1: we're still we're still moving forward here with the plan
Speaker 1: that the administration has laid out, and there appears to
Speaker 1: be a much more focused conversation now coming out of
Speaker 1: the long holiday weekend, which is why it's a pleasure
Speaker 1: to welcome Jeene Spirling back to the program, the White
Speaker 1: House American Rescue Plan Coordinator, more importantly, senior advisor to
Speaker 1: this president and of course his third administration here. Gene,
Speaker 1: it's really great to have you back. This kind of
Speaker 1: inflation is new to everybody. I guess it doesn't matter
Speaker 1: how many White Houses you've been in, maybe if you
Speaker 1: were running things back in the seventies, but I know
Speaker 1: you're a much younger man. That said, the energy component
Speaker 1: here is of great concern realizing the administration and is
Speaker 1: differing price control and into the war on inflation to
Speaker 1: the Federal Reserve. There's only so much you can do
Speaker 1: in a global oil market that seems to be shrinking.
Speaker 1: Do you feel that way? Well, I think that when
Speaker 1: something's your top priority, you do everything you can. You're right,
Speaker 1: this is quite a unique period, right, You've had You've
Speaker 1: you've had a Biden recovery that had the greatest job
Speaker 1: growth in the history of the country, best growth since
Speaker 1: uh forty years, the largest drop of in unemployment ever,
Speaker 1: and yet you're doing that is not helping you to
Speaker 1: necessarily escape from what is a very serious global inflation problem.
Speaker 1: We just saw it. The euro that's an eight point
Speaker 1: one percent, the UK is at nine. So you know
Speaker 1: that's and that's a little comfort to an American families
Speaker 1: here going that it's a global problem when they're going
Speaker 1: through the gas at the at the grocery line. So
Speaker 1: I think that you know, the President started day with
Speaker 1: basically saying that this was going to be a presidency
Speaker 1: that was not just going to say it respects the
Speaker 1: independence of the FED. It was not going to be
Speaker 1: bullying them or you know, trying to intimidate them publicly.
Speaker 1: Which is funny if I say that, people think I'm
Speaker 1: talking about Trump, but it's actullent. Five different presidents since
Speaker 1: nineteen sixty have have sixty four have have participated in
Speaker 1: in kind of been trying to intimidate the FED. So
Speaker 1: first of all, you start and you make clear this
Speaker 1: is top priority. I respect the independence of the FED,
Speaker 1: because of course monetary policy is going to be the
Speaker 1: most powerful tools. Secondly, you recognize that one, you know,
Speaker 1: one of the strong outgrows of this recovery is that
Speaker 1: it's surge growth and revenues, and it made it possible
Speaker 1: to roll off a lot of the emergency spending programs
Speaker 1: like u I and and and the Economic Impact Payment.
Speaker 1: So we're seeing one and a half early in valor
Speaker 1: decline and the deficit that damned inflationary pressures. And then
Speaker 1: the president you know, and I could do it, but
Speaker 1: I'll stop to give questions. You know, goes through all
Speaker 1: the different things, from the historic release of the strategic
Speaker 1: petroleum reserve to trying to bring down prescription drug costs,
Speaker 1: and so every single one of those somebody could say, well,
Speaker 1: that's not a silver bullet. But of course, and you
Speaker 1: know that this audience hears about these steps, Gene, and
Speaker 1: I hate to interrupt, we have such little time, but
Speaker 1: this this audience is pretty sophisticated with with exactly what
Speaker 1: you're talking about, the stages and the steps that have
Speaker 1: that have been taken here. Um, what are your what
Speaker 1: is it damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Speaker 1: In a way though, what's your reaction of those who
Speaker 1: you know you heard me mention the headline, UH that
Speaker 1: the President was essentially deflecting inflation blame by having J.
Speaker 1: Powell on the couch and the other the other extreme
Speaker 1: is is Donald Trump tweeting at J. Powell telling him
Speaker 1: what to do with interest rates? Is there something in
Speaker 1: the middle here we can find? No. I don't think
Speaker 1: this is about being in the middle. I think this
Speaker 1: is about the importance of respecting the independence of the
Speaker 1: Federal Reserve, particularly when they're doing something. You know, we
Speaker 1: understand that our Federal Reserve is independent and has while
Speaker 1: they have a dual mandate at times where inflation becomes
Speaker 1: the highest concern, that they're going to take steps to
Speaker 1: dampen that inflation, and that's going to be raising interest rates.
Speaker 1: And the President is making very clear that he is
Speaker 1: going to respect that independence. Respecting that independence, as I've
Speaker 1: seen in my past presidencies, whether it was with you know,
Speaker 1: Alan Green's fan or or Ben Bernaki, UH, makes it
Speaker 1: easier for presidents and heads and FED chairs to talk
Speaker 1: into to share, you know, insights, so that we all
Speaker 1: understand the direction that we're rowing in philosophical question for
Speaker 1: you you try to about the economy here, it's just
Speaker 1: philosophical question when it comes to fighting inflation. We saw
Speaker 1: a German inflation at a fresh record high. You've made
Speaker 1: the point this is a global phenomenon. The President and
Speaker 1: the administration have also made the point that it's driven
Speaker 1: by the war in Ukraine, and then it's driven by COVID.
Speaker 1: These are all completely different factors than the Federal Reserve
Speaker 1: has countered before with the sledge hammer of tightening of
Speaker 1: raising interest rates. Do we need to not be more
Speaker 1: delicate with our response here? If these are specific issues
Speaker 1: supply chain, war in Ukraine, if you fix those, then
Speaker 1: inflation goes away. No, Well, you know you're gonna put
Speaker 1: me in a bind because obviously I just would and
Speaker 1: said that those of us in the White House, you know,
Speaker 1: shouldn't be commenting or trying to influence the Federal Reserve.
Speaker 1: I would say the following, Um, I do think you know,
Speaker 1: I don't think this is about deflection of blame. This
Speaker 1: is a global crisis, you know, it is everywhere. It's
Speaker 1: not the one head of states fault. And there's no
Speaker 1: doubt that delta omicron made it harder to have that supply, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, to correct some of the supply constraints, and
Speaker 1: of course the war in Ukraine didn't cause all the inflation,
Speaker 1: but it is true that gas prices were at three
Speaker 1: dollars and thirty one cents on January seventeen when food
Speaker 1: moved treat troops to the border of Belarus. So it's
Speaker 1: clearly a dollar thirty or more worse. So that's just
Speaker 1: recognizing that. Yes, I don't think this is the fault
Speaker 1: of any particular head of state, but I think every
Speaker 1: head of state, including Joe Biden, feels it's their responsibility
Speaker 1: to do what they can. Now, I think it's just
Speaker 1: basic economics to know that the federal reserves monetary tools
Speaker 1: are going to have a greater impact on UH dampening
Speaker 1: inflation than a lot of things that can be done
Speaker 1: by an administration, even if you had a poperative Congress
Speaker 1: said clearly having a major decline in the deficits. It's
Speaker 1: something that there is Jeane spoiling, I'm out of time,
Speaker 1: Come back and see us on Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg,
Speaker 1: So long with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. As we
Speaker 1: reassemble the panel on the Fastest Hour in Politics, Rick
Speaker 1: and Jennie are with us for the rest of the hour.
Speaker 1: Rick Davis and Jennie Shannon Zeno, Bloomberg Politics contributors fascinating
Speaker 1: conversation with Jeane Spoiling. Rick Davis, I'm curious if you
Speaker 1: still feel the same way after what we discussed in
Speaker 1: trying to tackle the issue of inflation not just practically
Speaker 1: but also through messaging optically with the FED chair in
Speaker 1: the Oval office today. Is this going to be something
Speaker 1: we're talking about for the rest of this administration. Well,
Speaker 1: first of all, we don't know how long this is
Speaker 1: gonna last. So I think the assumption you have to have,
Speaker 1: especially in this administration, which you know sort of bought
Speaker 1: inflation into this, you know it's transient. It's not gonna
Speaker 1: last long if it if it lasts six months, it
Speaker 1: could last a year, and and and and the one
Speaker 1: thing you don't want to do is stop talking about
Speaker 1: inflation and start talking about a recession. Right, that's the
Speaker 1: only time it gets worse than when it currently is.
Speaker 1: So so absolutely they have to be committed to a
Speaker 1: long term fix. In the long term means you know
Speaker 1: that we have to reinvest in these resources we have
Speaker 1: in our country. I mean, and I thought, you know
Speaker 1: it was really interesting to note that there are three
Speaker 1: big oil producers in the world, US, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. Well,
Speaker 1: why don't we look at US as an option here?
Speaker 1: And so rather than having to worry about everybody else
Speaker 1: that has to be reinvested that wasn't invested in during
Speaker 1: the Trump administration, even though we talked a good game,
Speaker 1: there wasn't like this excess capacity available to this administration
Speaker 1: when they took office. And this administration has got to
Speaker 1: get over the bug a booze of of uh, you know,
Speaker 1: making an investment in that, in that industry, and then
Speaker 1: and then I think they are all these other things
Speaker 1: that you described. I thought very well, um, you know,
Speaker 1: supply chain and and and infrastructure, and some of that
Speaker 1: is being done. So you have to have a longer
Speaker 1: term point of view, and you've got to take the
Speaker 1: political short term impact to that, and so suck it up.
Speaker 1: Genie looked no further than the front page of the
Speaker 1: Washington Post that was struck by this this morning. US
Speaker 1: policy makers misjudged inflation threat until it was too late.
Speaker 1: That's what people woke up to this morning. Not everybody
Speaker 1: listens to and watches Bloomberg in is as deep as
Speaker 1: we are in these conversations where it's fifty versus seventy
Speaker 1: five basis points. No, the post here says policy makers
Speaker 1: blew it on inflation, and then it was coupled with
Speaker 1: an inflation timeline genie that goes back to February of one.
Speaker 1: Is this now the way the White House gets to
Speaker 1: the living rooms the mainstream conversation about inflation. We're not
Speaker 1: talking to the markets anymore. We're you need to talk
Speaker 1: to real people. Yeah, I mean, and and you know,
Speaker 1: people should listen to Bloomberg because we talked about this
Speaker 1: going back, but the White House simply wouldn't even say
Speaker 1: the word for many many months. And you know, obviously
Speaker 1: they were hoping it didn't happen. But it did. And
Speaker 1: you look at the President's op ed out in the
Speaker 1: Wall Street Journal, and it's interesting, he is he is right.
Speaker 1: There is good news on the economy, quite frankly, but
Speaker 1: you can't overcome what people are facing, you know, as
Speaker 1: they go to the to the gas station to fill up.
Speaker 1: And the problem with with what Spurling said, quite frankly,
Speaker 1: is you can only blame putin so far. Yes, oil
Speaker 1: prices did rise after the invasion, but inflation impacts more
Speaker 1: than oil. People are paying more for everything, and so
Speaker 1: these macro you know, realities you know down and you know,
Speaker 1: unemployment is down, supply chain is better than most other countries,
Speaker 1: business investment up. People don't feel that, and so the
Speaker 1: White House is stuck in this problem. And I thought
Speaker 1: one of the interesting things about the President's plan is
Speaker 1: he doesn't talk about bill back better in this op ed,
Speaker 1: but every single idea he has to address it is
Speaker 1: incompassed in build back Better. Yeah, it's it's a flashback
Speaker 1: to the whole build back Better debate. And I'm not
Speaker 1: sure that's something well, I know, like the State of
Speaker 1: the Union. Yeah, it's it's probably not going to pass Congress,
Speaker 1: I would suggest. So you're back to square one. And
Speaker 1: the problem even you know, Rick's idea invest in the
Speaker 1: US is a great idea, but that's not going to
Speaker 1: help them for the mid term. It's not going to
Speaker 1: help them short term, and that's their big problem. Well,
Speaker 1: the President did not get high remarks at the big
Speaker 1: rally over the weekend in Wyoming Saturday night in Casper, Wyoming,
Speaker 1: But then again, Liz Cheney didn't either. Here's former President
Speaker 1: Donald Trump ripping into Liz Cheney. As I read here
Speaker 1: on the terminal, Trump stages rally in his quest to
Speaker 1: defeat Cheney. Here he is, Liz Cheney hates the voters
Speaker 1: of the Republican Party, and she has for longer than
Speaker 1: you would know. Wyoming deserves a congresswoman who stands up
Speaker 1: for you and your values, not one who spend ends
Speaker 1: all over time putting you down, going after your president
Speaker 1: in the most vicious way possible, and loving endless, nonsensical, bloody,
Speaker 1: horrible wars that never end. They just never end. The
Speaker 1: Cheney's are die hard globalists and warmongers. How do you
Speaker 1: really feel? And by putting you down, I mean going
Speaker 1: after your favorite president? Rick Davis, I guess the several
Speaker 1: people who were at the rally, including Congresswoman Bobert, had
Speaker 1: trouble pronouncing the name of the woman running against, have
Speaker 1: been sort of recruited to run against Liz Cheney. But
Speaker 1: this isn't until August six. Does that mean that that's
Speaker 1: the that's the next thing that matters to Donald Trump
Speaker 1: and the campaign cycle. Well, after licking his wounds coming
Speaker 1: out of Georgia last week, he wanted to do something
Speaker 1: that sort of change the message. And this was a great,
Speaker 1: great way to do that, go and attack one of
Speaker 1: your own. Um, you know. It's the thing that needs
Speaker 1: reminding is Liz Cheney voted with Trump of the time.
Speaker 1: She she is one of his best advocates inside the
Speaker 1: House of Representatives for his agenda. That being said, her
Speaker 1: argument with him is related to his conduct during January
Speaker 1: six and the subsequent stop the Steel campaign and and
Speaker 1: and and so when he says that she's been not
Speaker 1: a good Republican for a long time, that parts not true.
Speaker 1: What is true is that she doesn't like Donald Trump
Speaker 1: and has made it a caused celeb and a career
Speaker 1: move to to try and beat that. She's got a
Speaker 1: lot of time left in this primary, She's got a
Speaker 1: lot of money in the bank, much more than than
Speaker 1: her opponent primary opponent, Harriet Hageman. And and and so
Speaker 1: this is not a done deal. And that's why Donald
Speaker 1: Trump showed up because the last thing he needs is
Speaker 1: for for Liz Cheney to win reelection. And that would
Speaker 1: be seen as the biggest rebuke of this election cycle. Honestly,
Speaker 1: sure would And I by would you get on a committee, Genie? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, the reality is if Trump can't win in Yoming,
Speaker 1: where he got his largest margin out of any state
Speaker 1: in twenty and did it incredibly well into its sixteen,
Speaker 1: he can't win anywhere. So you know, this is a
Speaker 1: do or die place for him. And of course Liz
Speaker 1: Cheney is his number one opponent on this question of
Speaker 1: whether the election was stolen. So I think this is
Speaker 1: the definitive referendum on this question of whether the Republican
Speaker 1: Party is going to be focused on looking back to
Speaker 1: relitigating that or whether they're going to look forward. And
Speaker 1: I would suggest, even if many members the Republican Party
Speaker 1: won't say it, some of them secretly hope that she
Speaker 1: wins because they don't want their party to be about
Speaker 1: looking back. They wanted to be about looking forward. And
Speaker 1: you know what was funny to me at this rally was,
Speaker 1: you know, Trump claiming that he swept to Georgia. I'm
Speaker 1: not sure he saw those results, but sweeping Georgia was
Speaker 1: not amongst the things he accomplished. There. Just say it.
Speaker 1: At least half the people will believe it here, Rick,
Speaker 1: what do people think of Dick Cheney in the Republican Party? Rick?
Speaker 1: Is there really a split here? The way that the
Speaker 1: Trump really he went for the warmongering. Uh. There there
Speaker 1: is obviously an element of the Republican Party, the nationalist
Speaker 1: streak that helped Donald Trump get elected that feels that way.
Speaker 1: But how how wide is that Well, I don't think
Speaker 1: it's very wide, and I think it's pretty much forgotten.
Speaker 1: I mean, the reality is it's been a long time
Speaker 1: since Dick Cheney held office as Vice president uh and
Speaker 1: arguably helped get us into the war in Iraq, and
Speaker 1: and so I think that's beating a dead horse. I
Speaker 1: really don't think that there's anything that someone's gonna find
Speaker 1: in a poll in Wyoming, certainly where he's still seen
Speaker 1: as a very popular figure. I mean, you assume this
Speaker 1: attack by Trump is going to be effective, but the
Speaker 1: Cheneys are political gold in Wyoming, and so going after
Speaker 1: her father is really missing the mark. I mean, he
Speaker 1: might have a shot on go with her, but going
Speaker 1: after Dick Cheney and Wyoming, Wow, I mean, like that's
Speaker 1: a waste of time. Fascinating conversation with our panel. Rick
Speaker 1: and Jennie of course are here, and I don't know
Speaker 1: if you guys have had a chance to weigh in
Speaker 1: on the peach tree scandal, The peach the peach tree,
Speaker 1: The peach tree scandal. Marjorie Taylor Green have you seen
Speaker 1: this thing? Has been viewed over a million times now.
Speaker 1: Of course, just off her primary win was talking during
Speaker 1: her latest broadcast of MTG Live. Remember we talked about lawmakers,
Speaker 1: their podcast, their shows, things happen, uh And in this case,
Speaker 1: the congresswoman was talking about how the government wants to
Speaker 1: monitor everything in your life, including what you eat. Listen
Speaker 1: to Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green. The government totally wants to
Speaker 1: provide surveillance on every part of your life. They want
Speaker 1: to know when you're eating, which they want to know
Speaker 1: if you're eating a cheeseburger, which is very bad because
Speaker 1: Bill Gates wants you to eat his fake meat that
Speaker 1: grows in a peach tree dish. WHOA okay, did you
Speaker 1: get that pete tree dish? Sebastian get the short one.
Speaker 1: Just that. Listen closely when she says it peach tree dish.
Speaker 1: It's like Peach Tree Street in Georgia, the peach treat dish.
Speaker 1: This is, of course the same woman who introduced us
Speaker 1: though to the Gaspacho police. Remember, go for its Sebastian.
Speaker 1: Not only do we have the DC Jail, which is
Speaker 1: the d C goolog but now we have Nancy Pelosi's
Speaker 1: Gaspacho police spine on members of Congress. Watch out for
Speaker 1: the gaspacho, don't mix it with the peach genie. This
Speaker 1: is the kind of programming that you get in the
Speaker 1: age of podcasting and YouTube from our elected officials. I
Speaker 1: think we need to focus exclusively, like once a week
Speaker 1: on these public officials, and their podcasts are the best.
Speaker 1: You're right, we are, did you hear Petrie there? Petrie
Speaker 1: Dish Rick Davis. Uh. I don't even know how to
Speaker 1: comment about Marjorie Taylor Green and most of what she
Speaker 1: talks about, but it's all a you know, wonderful scandal
Speaker 1: that she's obviously you know, giving us information about that
Speaker 1: in our bellies, there's some kind of a bug that's,
Speaker 1: you know, reporting to the government on what we eat
Speaker 1: for That bug in my belly is Bill Gates making
Speaker 1: fake meat. I didn't know he was even in that business.
Speaker 1: This whole thing has been fascinating to me. Put the
Speaker 1: caspaco in the peach tree dish and see what you
Speaker 1: get for dessert. The best panel in the business, Rick
Speaker 1: and Jennie back here tomorrow. Will meet you again on
Speaker 1: the fastest hour in politics. I'm hungry now, I'm Joe Matthew.
Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg