Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Friday that inflationary pressures have been “moderate” and “low” over the last several months.

Price levels decreased slightly last month amid a decline in energy prices; year-over-year inflation, therefore, fell from 7.1% in November to 6.5% in December, marking the largest overall decline in nearly three years while food and shelter prices continue to increase, according to a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Food prices increased 0.3% and shelter prices increased 0.8% even as energy prices fell 4.5%.

Yellen remarked during an interview with NPR that inflation “has really been quite moderate, quite low for the last six months or so” even as price increases remain well above the 2% annual rate seen before the lockdown-induced recession.

“We continue to see improvement in supply chains,” she told the outlet. “Goods prices have actually been falling, and some of the supply chain issues that pushed up the prices of goods and commodities have really turned around. Rent indexes continue to rise. But really, we see those coming down substantially over the next six months or so.”

Yellen has received criticism over the past two years for downplaying the impact that record inflation would have on the economy. She said at the end of 2021 that the term “transitory” was not a reliable descriptor for rising price levels and admitted in the summer of 2022 that she was “wrong then about the path that inflation would take,” acknowledging that “there have been unanticipated and large shocks to the economy that have boosted energy and food prices and supply bottlenecks that have affected our economy badly.”

Officials at the Federal Reserve raised rates by three-quarters of a percentage point on four consecutive occasions last year before implementing a half-percent increase last month, causing higher interest rates across the economy as policymakers attempt to decrease inflation. Yellen said that she trusts central bankers to “make the best judgments that they can about what’s necessary to accomplish their dual mandate, which is to bring inflation down and to try to maintain a strong labor market.”

President Joe Biden also celebrated the most recent price level report, contending that the lower headline figures represent “more proof that my economic plan is working.”

“Even though inflation is high in major economies around the world, it is coming down in America month after month, giving families some real breathing room.  And the big reason is falling gas prices,” he commented. “As inflation is coming down, take-home pay for workers is going up. Workers’ wages are higher now than they were seven months ago, adjusted for inflation. Wages for lower-income and middle-income workers have gone up even more.”

Price level increases nevertheless continue to outpace increases in nominal wages. Real average hourly earnings decreased 1.7% year-over-year as of last month, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, indicating lower purchasing power for households.

The most recent inflation data come after one of the worst stock market performances in modern history as soaring prices, geopolitical pressures, and backlogged supply chains plague the economy. The S&P 500 index plummeted nearly 20% in 2022, rivaling the 37% decline seen in 2008 amid the collapse of the banking system, as well as the 12% and 22% declines witnessed in 2001 and 2002 amid the dot-com bubble.

Trian Fund Management CEO Nelson Peltz launched a widely publicized campaign to earn a seat on the Disney board of directors and address various corporate governance issues, but the longtime investor does not appear to have plans to reverse the company’s social and political activism.

Trian, which holds a stake in Disney worth approximately $900 million, noted that shares are currently trading near an eight-year low even as the company benefits from robust branding and intellectual property advantages. If he clinches a board seat, Peltz said he would confront poor succession planning for management, excessive compensation, and lackluster cost discipline.

“Disney has an incredible legacy as one of the leading and most successful consumer entertainment companies in the world, having built some of the most celebrated consumer brands and an unparalleled content portfolio that resonates with audiences of all ages across the globe,” Peltz said in a statement. “But in recent years, the company has lost its way resulting in a rapid deterioration in its financial performance from a consistent dividend-paying, high free cash flow generative business into a highly leveraged enterprise with reduced earnings power and weak free cash flow conversion.”

Missing from the announcement is any mention of Disney issuing public stances with respect to controversial social matters. The company opposed legislation in Florida last year that prohibits instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity for students between kindergarten and third grade, causing a loss of trust among some consumers. Around 33% of Americans view Disney in a positive light, according to a poll from NBC News, marking a significant decline from 77% approval recorded one year earlier in a survey commissioned by The Daily Wire.

A spokesperson for Trian declined to comment when The Daily Wire asked whether the company’s activist campaign will seek to remedy the alienation of Disney customers by executives’ involvement in political debates.

Among other concerning metrics, Disney has reported a significant slowdown in new domestic subscriptions for streaming service Disney+ after leaping into the fray of contentious social issues. The movies “Strange World” and “Lightyear,” both of which featured same-sex attraction and were nevertheless oriented toward young children, witnessed failures at the box office.

Strive Asset Management President Anson Frericks said in an interview with The Daily Wire that the shakeup at Disney would be “more successful” if Peltz works to reverse the activist trajectory of the entertainment conglomerate.

“Disney has a real cultural problem right now as their customer approval ratings have plummeted,” he said. “I think there’s a huge opportunity for Trian to put a philosophy into Disney that is focused on excellence, not wading into any political controversies that have continued to sink the trust consumers have with them.”

Trian is a proponent of the environmental, social, and corporate governance movement, also known as ESG. The investment philosophy contends that businesses have a moral imperative to leverage their power to promote racial diversity, decrease carbon emissions, and achieve other sociocultural objectives deemed desirable by management. Trian has encouraged a number of its portfolio companies to adopt various ESG initiatives.

Critics say the ESG movement prompts companies to shift focus away from the maximization of returns and toward activism that is often harmful to companies’ bottom lines. Frericks, whose asset management firm encourages companies to focus solely on profitability, added that cultural matters “should be handled by politicians and not necessarily by investment firms.”

“I do not think a lot of investors are aware of the risks posed by ESG. There is definitely an echo chamber in Wall Street,” he commented. “We hope that more firms will move away from ESG mandates that might satisfy folks in California and New York, but might not be in the best interest of states like Florida, Texas, or Ohio.”

Disclosure: The Daily Wire has announced plans for kids entertainment content.