The horrific consequences of weak leadership
The soaring increase in food and energy prices is taking a significant human and economic toll.
In its latest Commodity Markets Outlook report, the World Bank said that energy prices will soar by 50.5% this year, after nearly doubling in 2021. It expects energy prices to then fall 12.4% in 2023. Food prices are projected to rise 22.9% this year before declining 10.4% next year. Food prices rose 31% last year.
The World Bank expects commodity prices to remain elevated for years to come, as the war in Ukraine alters how commodities are produced, traded, and consumed around the world.
The price increases for food commodities such as wheat and cooking oil—of which Ukraine and Russia are large producers—have been the largest since 2008.
“The resulting increase in food and energy prices is taking a significant human and economic toll,” said Ayhan Kose, director of the World Bank’s Prospects Group.
Citing the Ukraine war’s impact on energy and food prices, the International Monetary Fund last week unveiled sizable cuts in its forecast for economic growth for 2022 and 2023. The IMF now sees global growth slowing to 3.6% this year, down from 6.1% last year—a revision of 0.8 percentage points from its January projection.
The higher energy and commodity prices are helping to push up inflation in many countries, with the U.S. consumer-price index surging to a four-decade high of 8.5%.
The impact of rising food and energy prices are even grimmer for many developing nations, sending protesters into the streets and creating debt stress for governments.
“Accelerated inflation has become a clear and present danger for many countries,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said during a press conference last week. “Rising food and fuel prices are straining the budgets of ordinary families to a breaking point.”
The horrific consequences of weak leadership encouraged Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We cannot say that Biden caused the invasion, but we can say that he—and the West in general—sent ambiguous messages to the Kremlin.
The catastrophic surrender and withdrawal from Afghanistan sent a message that Biden was weak, feckless, and ineffective. The chaos and incompetence of the withdrawal were stunning. The world looked at Biden and took his measure. A weak president is dangerous. He (or she) emboldens our enemies.
Joe Biden and his administration have been a disaster on every single issue that matters to Americans. The list of failures is long. And now inflation ravages family budgets as food, energy, and housing costs soar to historic highs.
The world is less safe because Joe Biden sits in the White House.