Hi there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast and I'm Asma Khalid, I cover the White House.

Today on the show an issue that seems to be on a lot of voters minds.

Certainly inflation.

For me right now it's a inflation.

I think it's inflation is number one.

I think the cost of groceries have gone up dramatically.

Prices have risen sharply over the last year and a half.

Prices have shown that other issues have ebbed and flowed but inflation has consistently

been one of the most ongoing concerns for voters.

I've been doing a lot of reporting on inflation and recently I spoke to two economists to get

a clearer picture of how long inflation might last and what if anything the government

can do about it.

They had somewhat different opinions on the matter.

First, Jared Bernstein, he's on the council of economic advisors in the Biden White House.

What I already see as we speak are things working their way into the inflation story that

will very likely ease price pressures in the months and quarters to come.

And then Larry Summers, an economist who has not been shy about his inflation fears,

an economist who has worked in previous democratic administrations including President Clinton

and President Obama.

We have a fairly serious inflation problem.

A very bad, fairly serious inflation problem is likely to have substantial costs in terms

of an economic downturn.

...