Inflation shows no signs of improving. Two years into the second Trump administration, Americans should buckle up for the economy to take an even worse turn, one expert says. 

Prudential Global Investment Management (PGIM) Chief Economist Robert Sockin explains that data suggests the United States economy has been in a “hot inflation environment” and would encourage the federal government to be “aggressive” when it comes to interest rates, reported the Financial Times on Tuesday. 

“If you look at the last six months, inflation is showing no signs of improving and in some cases worsening. This is not an environment for gradualism,” Sockin says. 

Senior Fellow at Advancing American Freedom Joel Griffith shared during a Tuesday appearance on “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins” that the overall inflation rate is around 4% year over year, and about 5% annualized based on the last month.

“The bottom line is prices are growing faster than incomes,” Griffith shared. “In fact, over the past year or so, we’ve seen real wages, inflation-adjusted wages, decline by about 1%.” The economics expert added that a family making $150,000 per year with two income earners is experiencing roughly a $1,500 a year pay cut over the past year. 

“So, when we see in the polling data people expressing concerns about the economy, it’s not just because the media is highlighting the economic problems, it’s because families are really feeling it in the pocketbook. [Rising prices] are directly caused by federal government policies. And the biggest one right now are the tariffs.”

Eliminating tariffs should be a primary concern of Congress in 2027, Griffith added. “If Congress were to do so, that would save the typical family $2,000 per year. $2,000 a year annual tax just in the tariffs alone. That, from day one, is something Congress could resolve immediately. Tell the president these tariffs have to end come January 20th,” he continued.

When the new Democratic Congress takes office in January, it is unclear exactly what it will do to help the economy. Griffith says he has ideas on some of the ways it could deal with inflation, including ending the beef cartel. 

“If you look at right now, the cost of a pound of ground beef, it’s near all-time high- more than $6 a pound,” he began. “And those prices have been going up in double-digit levels for several years. One of the several reasons why beef prices are high is not just because we have a declining cattle population.”

“One of the problems is that we have a near monopoly on beef processing, not because of the free markets, but because the federal government has said, if you’re going to process meat, you have to do it off your cattle ranch unless you’re selling to friends or family. [AAF] has proposed allowing cattle producers to actually set up their own processing facilities. It won’t resolve all the problem, but it’ll certainly be a start.” 

Another way Congress could tackle inflation is through the housing sector.

“If you look at the green energy requirements that are typically updated every several years across the states, these are adding up upwards of $30,000 to the cost of a new home. So, we’re encouraging state legislatures to take a close look at these requirements and consider putting them on pause.”

Griffith insisted the overarching problem is that American supply grows at a faster rate than the economy. “That leads to higher prices. And one of the primary factors behind that is that we have relied on our central bank to purchase a growing amount of the growing federal debt. If we really want to get things under control longer term, we’re going to have to make real federal spending reforms, real federal spending cuts.”

While President Joe Biden was not fiscally conservative, President Trump’s inflation rate record in his second term is no better than Biden’s last year in office, increasing by about 9%, Griffith explained. “Under Republican leadership, the problem has not gotten better,” he asserted.