However, the White House quickly retorted on Monday that Bezos “opposes an economic agenda for the middle class." And then Jeff Bezos replied back on Twitter, arguing that the Biden administration would have made inflation worse if its $3.5 trillion economic and social spending bill, known as “Build Back Better," had made it into law.
Bezos tweeted,“They failed, but if they had succeeded, inflation would be even higher than it is today, and inflation today is at a 40 year high."
It was a rare instance when Bezos voiced his view in public and who generally tends to avoid any political fights in public domain. The public spat began on Friday, when Biden's account tweeted: “You want to bring down inflation? Let's make sure the wealthiest corporations pay their fair share."
Bezos is the second-wealthiest person in the world, with a net worth of $150 billion, behind Elon Musk, whose wealth has reached $268 billion.
US President Joe Biden has often accused Amazon, the ecommerce giant that Bezos founded and led for nearly a quarter-century, of failing to pay its fair share in taxes.
“Raising corp taxes is fine to discuss," Bezos tweeted in response. "Taming inflation is critical to discuss. Mushing them together is just misdirection."
Larry Summers, a Harvard economist who served as Treasury secretary during the Clinton administration, tweeted, “I think Jeff Bezos is mostly wrong in his recent attack" on the Biden administration.
“It is perfectly reasonable to believe, as I do," Summers added, “that we should raise taxes to reduce demand to contain inflation and that the increases should be as progressive as possible."
