US failing system incapable of providing effective solution: expert

As Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) reported last week a classic Thanksgiving feast for 10 is $64.05 this year, up 20 percent over last year’s average of $53.31. This is the highest average cost of a Thanksgiving dinner in the AFBF’s 37 years of conducting this survey, US-based The Hill reported.

“For about 5 years, I had given back to communities and families in need. I donated food, clothing, and school supplies etc. I am not rich, but God has blessed my family with more than enough I’m grateful,” a resident in California who preferred to be called Jane told the Global Times on Wednesday. “This year, because food is so expensive, I won’t be able to make thanksgiving food boxes.”

Inflation is red-hot in the US, reaching the highest levels in decades this year. The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates for six times this year, citing persistent inflation, yet such efforts still failed to rein in soaring inflation. In October, the consumer price index, a key inflation barometer, jumped by 7.7 percent in October compared to the same month a year ago. Economists expected a 7.9% annual increase.

The US current economic plight is just the tip of the iceberg, as the country will enter a defacto recession during the first or second quarter of next year, said Lü Xiang, research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

And his prediction was echoed by consultants back in the US. In June, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon warned of an economic hurricane. But JPMorgan economists Michael Feroli and Daniel Silver downgraded that threat last week. The US will enter a “mild recession in the second half of 2023,’’ they said. “We’re effectively looking for a Category 1 economic hurricane,” CNN reported.

Inflation also became a focal point for tussle between Democratic and Republican parties. US media reported that soaring inflation was the top issue for a lot of voters heading into the midterms, with most saying Republicans would do a better job of handling the problem.

“The Democratic Party’s solution is dodging the problem while the Republicans are hyping the problem. Yet neither of them have the ability, as well as the motive to solve the problem, and their being at loggerheads further tears up the already polarized society, leaving people struggling with rising living problems,” said Lü.

In what appears to attempt to assuage its domestic economic problems, the US has recently sought to ease tensions with China through enhanced interactions on various levels, in hopes to repair frayed cooperation in order to boost its economy, analysts said.

China’s central bank governor Yi Gang and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen held talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali last week to discuss topics ranging from high energy and commodity prices to the macroeconomic outlook in both countries, according to media reports.

It is reported that former US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said that the US needs to focus on building the country’s own economic strengths, rather than on attacking China.

“But we should also be cautious that the US extending ‘goodwill’ now is only to assuage its inflation and many domestic problems, and Washington remains firm on decoupling with China in the tech sector. In another words, it exposes US hypocrisy that it craves for help where it needs us, and tries to kick us away where it doesn’t,” said Wei Nanzhi, a research fellow of the American Institute from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.