Leading the story: After Biden tweeted Saturday repeating calls for oil companies to lower prices, Bezos responded by tweeting, “Inflation is too important a problem for the White House to continue making statements like this.”
“This is either misdirection or a profound misunderstanding of basic market dynamics,” Bezos added. “Oil prices fell by about $15 last month, but prices at the pump barely came down,” Jean-Pierre responded via Twitter. “This is not ‘basic market dynamics.’ It’s a market that’s failing the American consumer.” “But I guess it’s no wonder you think oil and gas companies using market power to make record profits at the expense of the American people is how our economy is supposed to work,” he added.
Situation: While crude oil prices have fallen, it is not unusual for natural gas prices to take some time to reflect the change. But, but, but: The cost of crude oil is not the only factor that determines prices at the pump, and oil companies have a limited role in setting final retail prices, according to the Dallas Fed. The big picture: The Biden administration has tried several strategies to moderate rising gas prices, including releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, relaxing rules around E15 gasoline and calling for a suspension of the federal gas tax , which Congress did not do.
