We are agreeing on this. Biden faced a time-inconsistency problem. Electorally, under current institutions, recession is better than inflation. On long term welfare merits, inflation is better than recession. 1/

Democracies have to devise institutions that allow policy that is long-term beneficial but short-term very broadly painful to survive. That's a challenge. Autocracies have to do the same, but the constraints they face and the tools by which they address them are different. /fin