Gasoline vouchers worth $300 a month? Some economists back new government aid as prices at the pump soar – By Victor Reklaitis (Marketwatch) / March 10, 2022
Analyst: Stunning rise in gas prices in an election year could lead to vouchers
As the Democratic party administration in Washington struggles to find effective ways to fight high inflation, some economists are calling for lawmakers to deliver new assistance for Americans dealing with high gasoline prices.
“If I were Dem leadership in the House, I’d bring forward a bill to give $50B gas price relief to low-income households and defy Republicans to vote against it,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, in a tweet on Tuesday.
Wouldn’t such spending add to inflation? Shepherdson pushed back after a critic suggested exactly that, with the economist saying it would not because a $50 billion outlay amounts to just 0.2% of U.S. GDP.
