{"id":589395,"date":"2023-09-01T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-01T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/oh-snap-is-bidens-food-stamp-expansion-inflating-grocery-prices\/"},"modified":"2023-09-01T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-09-01T11:00:00","slug":"oh-snap-is-bidens-food-stamp-expansion-inflating-grocery-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/oh-snap-is-bidens-food-stamp-expansion-inflating-grocery-prices\/","title":{"rendered":"#Oh, SNAP: Is Biden\u2019s food stamp expansion inflating grocery prices?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/08\/shopper_021323_ap_wallstreet.jpg?w=900\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Since President Biden entered the Oval Office in January 2021, spending for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, has\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.benefits.com\/news\/usda-increase-snap-benefits\">increased by 27 percent<\/a>. This giant increase in SNAP funding has unsurprisingly coincided with a\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2022-10-13\/soaring-food-costs-further-squeeze-us-consumers-in-blow-to-biden#xj4y7vzkg\">steep rise in food prices<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>According to the\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ers.usda.gov\/data-products\/ag-and-food-statistics-charting-the-essentials\/food-prices-and-spending\/?topicId=1afac93a-444e-4e05-99f3-53217721a8be#:~:text=Average%20annual%20food%2Dat%2Dhome,historical%20averages%20from%202002%E2%80%9321.\">U.S. Department of Agriculture<\/a>, \u201cAverage annual food-at-home prices were 11.4 percent higher in 2022 than in 2021. For context, the 20-year historical level of retail food price inflation is 2.0 percent per year. In 2022, prices for all food categories increased faster than their historical averages from 2002\u201321. Prices for nine food categories increased by more than 10 percent in 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Is this just a coincidence? Correlation does not necessarily imply causation, but a new\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/outlook.office.com\/local\/path\/file:\/\/\/C:\/Users\/CTalgo\/Downloads\/531706182-thrifty-food-plan-inflation-paper-8-23-23.pdf\">report from the Foundation for Government Accountability<\/a>\u00a0contains data indicating a direct relationship between spiking prices at the grocery store and the Biden administration\u2019s misguided decision to break the bank on SNAP funding.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTaxpayer spending on food stamps contributes to higher inflation, leading to higher grocery prices for all,\u201d the report states. \u201cResearchers at the World Bank reviewed more than a decade of retail scanner data before and after the Great Recession to measure the impact food stamp spending has on food prices\u2026That research found that a 1 percent increase in per-capita food stamp benefits increased grocery store prices by 0.08 percent. Put another way: Food prices increase by one percent for every 12.5 percent increase in food stamp spending.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To be fair, SNAP benefits had already increased massively during the pandemic under President Donald Trump, increasing from roughly $4.5 billion per month in 2019 to $7.8 billion per month in 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 lockdowns.<\/p>\n<p>But by December 2021, a year after Biden had entered the White House and almost a full year after vaccines had become available, SNAP spending swelled to $9.9 billion per month. By December 2022, it had risen to nearly $11 billion per month.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBetween December 2019 and March 2023,\u201d the report goes on, \u201cfood prices grew by a staggering 23 to 24 percent\u2026Food stamp spending hikes could account for at least two-thirds of that increase. Per-capita food stamp spending grew by more than 90 percent between December 2019 and March 2023 \u2014 even after the pandemic-related emergency allotments expired. This suggests food stamp spending increases fueled grocery price increases of more than 15 percent. The food stamp program\u2019s impact on inflation is even larger after accounting for the now-expired emergency allotments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>More concerning, due to Biden\u2019s unilateral decision to massively expand SNAP benefits, food stamp spending is projected to cost taxpayers more than $1 trillion over the next decade, contributing to even higher grocery store prices in the future.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>We have seen this movie before. Over the last few decades, the federal government has poured\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2022\/07\/29\/1114560119\/student-loan-program-cost\">hundreds of billions<\/a>\u00a0of taxpayer dollars into federal subsidized loans for higher education and billions more into Pell Grants and other college loan programs. Over the same time, we have seen <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bestcolleges.com\/research\/college-costs-over-time\/#:~:text=The%20average%20cost%20of%20college,1963%20to%20%2413%2C777%20in%202020.&amp;text=That's%20accounting%20for%20inflation.\">college tuition and associated costs go through the roof<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In 2017, the New York Federal Reserve issued a\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorkfed.org\/medialibrary\/media\/research\/staff_reports\/sr733.pdf\">study<\/a>\u00a0titled, \u201cCredit Supply and the Rise in College Tuition: Evidence from the Expansion in Federal Student Aid Programs.\u201d The study found \u201ca pass-through effect on tuition of changes in subsidized loan maximums of about 60 cents on the dollar, and smaller but positive effects for unsubsidized federal loans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Al Lord, the former CEO of Sallie Mae, told a reporter after the study was published that \u201cschools were able to hike tuition, since students now had expanded access to loans.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>The same effect is now occurring at the grocery store. It is a rather simple formula: When the federal government subsidizes a good or service, either through direct payments on EBT cards or by providing guaranteed loans, its price rises as the government intervention distorts the forces of supply-and-demand.<\/p>\n<p>For another example, see the housing crisis of 2008. A good case can be made that this originated with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac providing ever dodgier home loans at bargain rates to borrowers who lacked creditworthiness, thanks to the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/chicagounbound.uchicago.edu\/cgi\/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&amp;context=housing_law_and_policy\">Community Reinvestment Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, this government-created cost crisis is harming all Americans, arguably even worse than previous government-sparked economic distortions. Every family goes to the grocery store, and therefore every family is facing higher prices due to Biden\u2019s SNAP expansion.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p><em><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/mailto:ctalgo@heartland.org\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"4059114\">Chris Talgo<\/a><\/em>\u00a0<em>is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Copyright 2023 Nexstar <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Media<\/a> Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/opinion\/finance\/4176869-oh-snap-is-bidens-food-stamp-expansion-inflating-grocery-prices\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since President Biden entered the Oval Office in January 2021, spending for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, has\u00a0increased by 27 percent. This giant increase in SNAP funding has unsurprisingly coincided with a\u00a0steep rise in food prices. According to the\u00a0U.S. Department of Agriculture, \u201cAverage annual food-at-home prices were 11.4 percent&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":589396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/08\/shopper_021323_ap_wallstreet.jpg?w=1280","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[134344,117,73798,10574,70610,142405,70551,124783,991,134351,87723,128626,80241,4965],"class_list":["post-589395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-administration","tag-business","tag-defense","tag-education","tag-finance","tag-groceries","tag-inflation","tag-international","tag-joe-biden","tag-morning-report","tag-mortgages","tag-snap","tag-student-loans","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}