尽管大幅加息意在为经济降温，但最新的消费者价格指数报告中的同比通胀率几乎没有缓解，美国交通部长皮特·布蒂吉格周日表示衰退是“可能的，但不是不可避免的”。
Buttigieg在美国广播公司“本周”的采访中被问及经济衰退的威胁是否令他担忧。
“看，这是可能的，但不是必然的。...我们确实看到价格压力很大的部分原因是，虽然需求已经回来，但美国人有更多的收入，因为美国人在这种几乎处于历史低位的失业率下有工作，”Buttigieg告诉主播George Stephanopoulos，并补充说，“供应方面很难跟上。”
“这是我们工作的很大一部分——在基础设施方面——处理我们遇到的一些瓶颈，处理我们在交通基础设施方面遇到的一些限制，这些限制需要在几十年内升级，”Buttigieg说供应链崩溃新冠肺炎疫情加剧了这种情况。
乔·拜登总统上周说的他认为不太可能出现经济衰退，但承认可能会出现“非常轻微的衰退”他的评论是在美国最大银行的首席执行官杰米·戴蒙，摩根大通首席执行官，警告说可能会出现经济衰退由于俄罗斯在乌克兰的战争和历史高位的通货膨胀，以及为应对这些价格而不断上升的利率，6到9个月之内。
美联储今年迄今已五次加息，预计下个月还会加息。
Stephanopoulos向Buttigieg追问，在总统表示他将很快宣布更多措施来解决通货膨胀，特别是天然气价格上涨后，拜登还能做些什么。
Buttigieg强调，他不想“超越总统”，但他强调了拜登如何下令从该国的战略石油储备中释放燃料，并放弃了加油站乙醇混合的要求。
“这是总统今年以来一直坚持的更大重点的一部分，即打击通货膨胀，为美国家庭创造更多喘息空间，”Buttigieg说。
虽然汽油价格已经从夏季的高点大幅下降，从6月中旬的5.02美元下降到现在的平均3.90美元，但仍比一个月前高出20美分，根据美国汽车协会。但蒂吉格将部分责任归咎于石油公司，这些公司为自己辩护，免受利润过高的批评。
Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg speaks during a news conference on Oct. 12, 2022, in North Charleston, S.C.
梅格·金纳德/美联社
经济逆风可能会让民主党在今年11月失去微弱的国会多数席位。
Stephanopoulos问Buttigieg，在距离中期选举只有23天的时候，该党应该如何解决高通胀问题。民意调查显示是的拜登支持率低的一个主要因素选民让共和党人在处理经济问题上占据优势，而共和党人反过来将经济状况作为他们竞选信息的核心。
“好政策就是好政治。我们一直在为美国人民做正确的事情，在立法方面，我们的提案和成就受到欢迎，因为它们有意义。他指出，2021年签署的两党基础设施拨款法案，允许改善全国各地的桥梁，道路和机场，以及最近颁布的基础设施削减法案，其中包含旨在降低医疗保健费用的条款。
但蒂吉格表示，11月的选举对于确保这些政策的继续非常重要:“这就是为什么我们不能逆转已经取得的进展，特别是因为我们知道还有很长的路要走。”
他引用了一些保守派对允许医疗保险协商处方药价格的反对意见，这是IRA的主要部分。共和党议员已经表示谈判的权力是一种“价格控制”这将阻碍制药业的发展。
Buttigieg说:“现在不是做任何会增加美国人民医疗费用或其他费用的事情的时候。”
斯特凡诺普洛斯问拜登是否应该花更多时间强调白宫在2021年的其他成功，如直接的COVID救济付款和去年年底到期的儿童税收抵免的临时扩大。
Buttigieg说“我们为这些成就感到自豪”，然后指出了他认为的其他成就，如国内制造业的资金法案，退伍军人医疗保健法案和拜登在经济“面临自由落体风险”时的最初新冠肺炎救济法案
“在某些方面，我们已经在立法方面取得了如此多的成就，这让我们很难一下子谈论所有的问题，因为实在是太多了，”他说。
Recession is 'possible but not inevitable,' Buttigieg says as he touts supply chain focus
With year-over-year inflation barely easing in the latest Consumer Price Index report despite sharp increases in interest rates meant to cool the economy, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Sunday thata recession is "possible but not inevitable."
Buttigieg was asked in an interview on ABC's "This Week" if the threat of recession worried him.
"Look, it's possible but not inevitable. ... A part of why we do see a lot of pressure on prices is that while the demand has come back, Americans have more income because Americans have jobs in this almost historically low level of unemployment," Buttigieg told anchor George Stephanopoulos, adding that it's "been hard for the supply side to keep up."
"That's a big part of what we're working on -- on the infrastructure side -- dealing with some of the bottlenecks we have, dealing with some of the constraints that we have in transportation infrastructure that's needed to be upgraded for decades," Buttigieg said, referringto a supply-chain crunchexacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Joe Bidensaid last weekthat he believed an economic downturn was unlikely but conceded there could be a "very slight recession." His comments came after Jamie Dimon, the CEO of the largest bank in the United States, JPMorgan Chase CEO,warned a recession is likelywithin six to nine months because of Russia's war in Ukraine and historically high inflation and the rising interest rates to combat those prices.
The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates five times so far this year and is expected to again next month.
Stephanopoulos pressed Buttigieg on what more Biden could do about rising prices after the president said he would soon be announcing more steps to tackle inflation and, particularly, the cost of gas.
Buttigieg emphasized that he didn't want to "get ahead of the president," but he highlighted how Biden had ordered the release of fuel from the country's strategic petroleum reserve and waived a requirement on ethanol blending for gas stations.
"This is part of a bigger focus that the president has sustained throughout this year on fighting inflation and creating more of that breathing room for American families," Buttigieg said.
While gas prices have fallen sharply from a summer high -- now averaging about $3.90, down from $5.02 in mid-June -- they are 20 cents higher than they were just a month ago,according to AAA. Buttigieg laid some of the blame with oil companies, who have defended themselves from criticism of excessive profits.
The economic headwinds could cost Democrats their slim congressional majorities this November.
Stephanopoulos asked Buttigieg how the party should address high inflation with just 23 days until the midterm elections. Polls show it isa major factor in Biden's low approval rating, with voters giving Republicans the advantage on handling the economy -- and Republicans have, in turn, made the state of the economy central to their campaign messaging.
"Good policy is good politics. And we have been doing the right thing for the American people with proposals and achievements, legislatively, that are popular because they make sense," Buttigieg said. He pointed to a bipartisan infrastructure funding bill that was signed in 2021, which has allowed for improvements to bridges, roads and airports across the country, as well as the recently enactedInfrastructure Reduction Act (IRA), which contains provisions aimed at lowering health care costs.
Buttigieg suggested that the November elections were important for making sure those policies continue: "It's why we can't turn back on the progress that's been made, especially because we know there's still a long way to go."
He cited some conservative objections to allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, which was a major part of the IRA. GOP lawmakers have said the negotiation poweris a "price control"that will hamstring pharmaceutical development.
"It's the wrong time to do anything that would increase costs for health care or anything else for the American people," Buttigieg said.
Stephanopoulos asked whether Biden should spend more time highlighting the White House's other 2021 successes, like the direct COVID relief payments and a temporary expansion of the child tax credit which expired at the end of last year.
Buttigieg said "we are proud of those accomplishments," and then noted what he believed were others, such as a funding bill for domestic manufacturing, a veterans' health care bill and Biden's initial COVID-19 relief bill when the economy "was at risk of going into free-fall."
"In some ways having achieved so much legislatively makes it hard to talk about all at once because there are just so many," he said.
