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Before folks get down on the economy, they might learn something about it. Like what inflation is, what a recession is, what the Federal Reserve is, and how gas prices work. When Americans are polled about the economy, it betrays a lack of familiarity with these concepts.
Don’t get me wrong, Biden should die in prison for his complicity in the war crimes perpetrated in Gaza, but—it is awkward to point out—he gets decent marks for the economy: unemployment is very low, inflation is down to 3 percent, wages are up, and the equity market is robust (I’m looking at the S&P 500 numbers here; the Dow Jones is a negligible metric). The market of course is not the economy; but I include it here as a piece in the mosaic.
Biden also gets solid marks on healthcare. The amount of Americans who remain uninsured has hit an all-time low of 7.2 percent (Bloomberg). I always think more could be done on this front, but seeing as though Trump spent four years trying to destroy Obamacare and take away my health insurance, Biden looks pretty good here.
As mentioned, with the disinflation and the consumer price index dropping to 3 percent, the cost of living is down. If we add to this the rise in real wages, it means inequality has also narrowed.
Trump, on the other hand, inherited a strong economy from Obama. Then there was COVID, which hit the economy, especially the labor market, quite hard. Trump made all this worse. According to the Hill:
“In part, they [people polled] are apparently excusing Trump for COVID’s effect on the economy. They shouldn’t. Trump was responsible for steering a course during COVID that cost [many] lives and incinerated wealth.”
Trump’s grand legislative accomplishment was to cut the corporate tax rate and taxes for the rich. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “Like the Bush tax cuts before it, the 2017 Trump tax cut was a trickle-down failure.” It benefitted the rich, with those benefits not making their way down to the middle class. Again, the CBPP points out, “the law … severely eroded our country’s revenue base.” In other words, conservatism has precious little to do with fiscal conservatism. Democrats are routinely accused of handing out money, yet doing just that—to the seriously rich—is the core of the Republican Party’s doctrine.
Moreover, Trump’s budget deficits spiked, and his tariff and trade policy failed to deliver—and made no sense. The trade war with China cost the United States dearly.
As AP summarizes, “the economy during Trump’s presidency never lived up to its own hype.”
I’m not sure what Americans want. I guess to live in a “unified Reich”? America seems to just prefer the youthful and spry and clear-headed Donald to the elderly and decrepit and foggy Joe. Facts be damned.
