Once inflation takes off, there is no easy way back to normal

The go-to policy for dealing with nearly every modern problem is more government spending. So it was just a matter of time before Democrats tried to revive the failed “Build Back Better” (BBB) program to address today's economic troubles. Of course, if they succeed, the result will be much the same as what we've experienced over the past 18 months: more debt and rising inflation.

As a reminder, the $2 trillion proposed BBB legislation came on the tail of an oversized $2 trillion third COVID-19 relief bill and a $1 trillion infrastructure bill. It was killed when two Democratic senators, Joe

Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, joined all Republican senators in opposition. They rightfully worried that more spending would inflate our debt and produce inflation. But now, their party is back at it again. In the midst of the largest inflation in four decades, they've been negotiating behind the scenes for weeks in hopes of passing a slimmer BBB.

According to Politico, they hope to pass the bill before September by using the budget reconciliation process. The bill includes tax increases, deficit-reduction measures, prescription-drug reform and renewable-energy subsidies, but most of the details are still unclear. If we wind up with more of the spending and favoritism that's become so common, it would be tragic.

First and worst, these policies are destined to be counterproductive. Subsidies to suppliers of green energy, for instance, increase the cost of that energy and hinder the innovation that could make it more commonplace. The Democrats' prescription-drug policy would be costly and in the long run perhaps even deadly. As the Paragon Institute's Brian Blase recently wrote in a newsletter, “Former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers Tomas Philipson ... estimates that these proposals would lead to 135 fewer new drug approvals

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