Everything costs more in the US. Food. Current. Clothes. Gasoline. – I have just spent 150 dollars on gas, and the tank is not even full. How will this go? 150 dollars! I’m not rich. I’m lower middle class, says Kyle despairingly. news meets him at a Republican election meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. Kyle hopes a Republican victory could lower gas prices. He we do not state his surname. Photo: Lars Os Kyle hopes his party wins Tuesday’s election – and that they will drill for more oil to bring down petrol prices. Price growth in the US is higher than in 40 years, according to figures from the US Department of Labour. It affects voters on both sides in tomorrow’s Congressional elections. But another economic record also characterizes the United States: the profits of large companies. Greed is to blame And it is the companies’ greed that is the cause of the high price increase, many democrats believe. Chad Farmer is one of those pointing the finger in that direction. – One of the reasons for the high inflation is large companies raising prices to increase their profits. What is Joe Biden going to do about it?, asks Farmer. Former Labor Minister Robert Reich also blames greed for ordinary people now struggling to pay for bread and petrol. the price of petrol in the US peaked in June this year. Photo: OLIVIER DOULIERY / AFP Driving up prices – Message to the media: Don’t say that inflation is the highest in 40 years without mentioning that the business profit margin is the highest in 70 years. Give people the whole picture, writes Reich in a widely shared post on social media. It is true that America’s big companies are earning more than in many decades. According to figures from the US Department of Commerce, private companies earned more last year than they did in 1950, writes The Guardian. “Greedflation”: a combination of greed and inflation, has become a widely used word in the election campaign. It is about companies raising prices more than necessary, and is thus to blame for the high inflation. And there is some truth in the expression, says Kalle Moene, professor of economics at the University of Oslo. – Greedflation is a neat word construction, but it probably covers a reality, says Moene to news. Professor of economics Kalle Moene. Photo: Fjeldstad, Knut / NTB scanpix When profit margins increase in the business world, the proportion of employees left behind decreases. Inequality is increasing. And the prices are increasing. – What you call greedflation applies to the highest degree in the USA, says Moene. Having to choose between bread and petrol On Tuesday, Americans go to the polls to decide who will sit in the US Congress. At the same time, thousands of important and less important positions in the states are to be elected. Among them are election officials in a number of states. In Arizona, one of the states Trump lost, gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is one of many who refuse to believe the election results from 2020. Neither does voter Michelle Maglio. Michelle Maglio says she is “absolutely sure that Donald Trump won” the election in 2020. It was Joe Biden who won the presidential election Photo: Lars Os – I’m absolutely sure that Trump won big, says Maglio to news. The election results have been carefully reviewed in the US legal system. It was Joe Biden who won the election in 2020. Michelle Maglio blames the Democratic president for the increased prices. – It should not be the case that the American people now have to choose between heating their house or putting food on the table. The American people want to work, and then it shouldn’t be the case that we can’t afford to fill up the car with gas to drive to work! This is Joe Biden’s fault, says Maglio. She herself says that she is doing well as a real estate agent. Democracy in trouble Democrat Chad Farmer is also worried about the economy. But he says the president’s power is limited. Chad Farmer is most concerned about American democracy ahead of Tuesday’s election. Photo: Lars Os – People expect Biden to do things that are not in his power. The prices of petrol are very high, it is true. But it is not the president who controls petrol prices. Everyone else is struggling too, because of the war in Ukraine, he says to news. For Farmer, the economy is not the most important thing. He is deeply concerned about American democracy. – This election is about whether we should have a democratic society or not, he says. The day before the election he spends knocking on doors outside of Phoenix to persuade people to vote for the Democrats. – Democracy is no better than its voters. And in this country, a large part of the voters live in a completely different reality than the one I live in. Many people believe in things that are not true. On things I don’t believe in. It is a huge democratic problem. American democracy is disintegrating. Trust in both the politicians and the electoral system is at rock bottom, and much is at stake before the nerve-wracking by-elections in November. Join longtime correspondent Tove Bjørgaas and journalist Camilla Bergland to Arizona, where counting votes is dangerous, and politicians say they will not trust the election results if they lose.
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The economy most important in the by-elections in the USA – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
