Why “drill, baby, drill” is not inflationary policy

Former President Donald Trump says he has the key to reducing inflation: “Drill, baby, drill.”

At rallies and appearances, Trump claimed that his plan to allow as much oil and gas drilling as possible in the country would reduce costs across the economy, including on food, mortgages and electricity bills.

“At the heart of our effort to get the cost of living under control will be the comprehensive push to end the Biden-Harris war on a cause called American energy,” Trump said Wednesday at a rally in North Carolina that was billed as a major address on the economy. “American energy, we're going to drill, baby, drill. We're going to drive down energy prices.”

Economists generally agree that rising energy prices increase production costs across the board, thereby increasing retail prices for Americans. But fossil fuel production has already reached record levels under President Joe Biden – and oil and gas prices are largely beyond the control of a president. Foreign wars, international crises, supply disruptions, the seasons and other factors have a far greater impact than the policies of a presidential administration.