By constantly spending and generating new debt, Congress effectively forces prices to rise and purchasing power to fall, year after year.

President Donald Trump is discovering what Joe Biden learned the hard way: voters don’t easily forgive price increases. Despite inflation cooling from its peak, two-thirds of Americans disapprove of how Trump is handling inflation, according to an April Economist/YouGov poll.

The Republican Party’s victory lap over no tax on tips and no tax on overtime rings hollow, considering persistent public frustration with the cost of living. It doesn’t help that Trump’s tariff war and the war in Iran are further fueling rising prices.

And voter frustration isn’t just about recent price changes. It’s also about the lasting damage from the inflation surge of 2021–2022, which pushed the overall price level permanently higher.

There’s one cure, however, that Washington continues to miss. Inflation is increasingly driven by unsustainable budget policy, and politicians on both sides of the aisle keep pouring gasoline on the fiscal fire.

When debt grows persistently faster than the economy, it eventually forces difficult choices. Investors begin to question how the government will meet its obligations. There are only three answers: raise taxes, cut spending, or allow inflation to erode the real value of debt. When the first two options are repeatedly postponed, inflation becomes the likely path of least resistance.

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