Janet Yellen denies that inflation is coming

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday dampened concerns that President Joe Biden's plans for infrastructure, jobs and families will cause inflation, saying spending will be staggered over a decade. "It's pretty evenly spread over eight to ten years," said Yellen, former Federal Reserve chairman, in an interview with NBC's Meet the Press. She said the Federal Reserve will monitor inflation carefully and have the tools to fight it if necessary. "I don't think inflation will be a problem, but if it does, we have the tools to address it. These are historic investments that we need to make our economy productive and fair." Biden's stimulus and recovery plans total around $ 6 trillion and are to be paid in part through a series of tax hikes for the richest Americans, less than 1% of the population, and corporate tax increases. Cecilia Rouse, Chair of the White House National Economic Council, said there was no sign of escalating inflation. "So when we get to the other side of this pandemic, I expect our job market will come back and be thriving," Rouse said on Fox News Sunday. "But right now we expect at most temporary inflation, which is what we expect when we come out of a major recession." Some Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns that the tax hikes will slow economic growth. Yellen did not want to speculate on whether Biden would accept a bill of Congress that does not include a way to pay for the spending increases in his plans. "He made it clear that he believes permanent spending increases should be paid for and I agree with him," she said. Biden administration officials have said that a significant reduction in the corporate tax rate in 2017 by Republican Donald Trump did not result in a similar surge in investment and corporate competitiveness. "We don't want to hinder companies, but we want to make sure they are paying their fair share," said Rouse.