COMMENTARY / World

Presidents don’t move prices. So why all the tweets?

Taking credit on social media for market swings will always backfire eventually

U.S. presidents can create the conditions that are necessary for lower oil prices or booming stock markets, but they have no actual control over prices. | CHERISS MAY / THE NEW YORK TIMES

By Jared Dillian
Bloomberg

Jul 31, 2022

U.S. President Joe Biden, or his designated representative, is having a good time tweeting about gasoline prices lately.

Just about every time that the national average goes down by a penny, the White House is tweeting about it. We reached peak panic about gas prices about a month ago, Biden pledged to bring them down, and they fell. For sure, the White House wants to take credit. That’s just politics.

Now, the drop is due to a confluence of factors, including weakening demand, falling crude prices and the continued release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. At some point the SPR will run out and have to be refilled — potentially at higher prices.

Presidents don’t move prices. So why all the tweets?

Taking credit on social media for market swings will always backfire eventually

In your social network

In your inbox

In your social network

In your inbox