(CNN) Resurgent inflation gives President Joe Biden one of those signature White House headaches: rising public concern, limited ability to resolve it, and risks attached to potential steps he might take. The resulting cascade of questions for White House officials yields a three-part response, though not one that has calmed worries that June's 5.4% increase in the consumer price index renewed this week. First, Biden economists say, they're closely monitoring inflation and taking targeted action in response. And third, talk to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, the independent official in charge of monetary policy who has echoed the White House in downplaying the inflation threat as almost certainly a temporary phenomenon. "This is mostly the Fed's job, and they're treating it as mostly the Fed's job," explains Harvard economist Jason Furman, formerly a top economic adviser to President Barack Obama.

Source: CNN July 18, 2021 03:56 UTC