In normal circumstances, US President Joe Biden and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos would not pick a fight with each other over inflation. But these are not normal circumstances today in America.

With inflation hitting 8.6 per cent in May, and the Atlanta Federal Reserve’s Nowcast series signalling an economic contraction in the second quarter of this year, Biden is desperate to find anything, or anyone, to blame.

So he has recently attacked gas companies, ordering them to cut soaring fuel prices at “a time of war and global peril”. Which, inevitably, has sparked fears of rising anti-business populism among executives — prompting Bezos to lash out against Biden’s “deep misunderstanding” of economics. It makes for headline grabbing stuff. But it is also a smokescreen. For the real issue that Bezos and Biden ought to talk about, but almost certainly will not, is wages.