By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Creighton University economist Ernie Goss sees the growth of government under President Biden's proposed budget as a negative.
"We're going to see an overheated economy," Goss said. "The federal government is expanding. The latest proposed budget for next year is $6 trillion. I'm sorry to be laughing, but that is out there. That's going to have inflationary pressures. The Federal Reserve says that they see this as transitory. We hope and pray it is transitory."
Goss noted that it isn't the same as the late 1970s under President Carter.
"We don't have the oil prices pushing," Goss said. "Oil prices are higher. We're now at $68 a barrel, but we're not seeing that supply-side push in terms of oil. We are seeing it in other areas. For example, lumber. We are seeing that growth there, out the roof. We're seeing housing prices 12% growth year over year."
Another drag on growth in the opinion of several of the managers Goss surveys is a lack of skilled workers.
"Twenty-three percent of the supply managers listed the shortage of workers and the supply of workers as being the number one challenge for 2021 to their company," Goss said.
Due to the bounce back growth of the economy, however, the overall Mid-America Business Conditions Index was at a strong 72.3 for May. Anything above 50 is considered growth.
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