economy and politics

White House bets on Biden’s economic plan amid pessimism from Americans

FILE - President Joe Biden speaks in the East Room of the White House, May 17, 2023, in Washington.  (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

In the context of President Joe Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign, the White House is promoting the term “bidenomics” to show that his policies to “grow the economy from the bottom up” have managed to control inflation and reduce unemployment.

“The proportion of working-age Americans in the labor force is higher now than it has been in the last 15 years,” Lael Brainard, director of the White House National Economic Council, said during a news conference Tuesday. “While we have more work to do, inflation has been coming down for 11 straight months.”

The official highlighted 13 million jobs created since Biden took office in February 2021 and an unemployment rate that has remained below 4% since February of this year.

Recent economic indicators give the administration reason to be hopeful. While inflation is still a challenge, employers continue to hire and consumer prices increased at a slower pace in May compared to a year earlier.

But so far most Americans do not share the administration’s optimism. The most recent Ipsos poll shows Biden’s approval rating holding steady around 40%. The economy remains a top concern, and most are pessimistic about the direction of the country, a fact that Republicans have been keen to underscore.

FILE – President Joe Biden speaks in the East Room of the White House, May 17, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

“It’s frankly astonishing to me that the president continues to have the audacity to say things like ‘working families are reaping the rewards’ of his policies,” Senate Republican Leader John Thune said earlier this month. “Working families are certainly reaping something from the president’s policies, but they are not rewards.”

Data disconnection

The disconnect between economic data and how people feel about their financial well-being can be attributed to the fact that Americans aren’t digesting the good news, said Chris Jackson, a spokesman for Ipsos.

He pointed to surveys that measure Americans’ familiarity with positive economic developments, such as low unemployment and falling inflation, versus bad news, such as supply chain problems and high inflation.

“The bad news, everyone knows it. The good news, very few Americans know,” he told the voice of america. “In an environment like that, it’s hard to make a compelling case that you’re doing a good job, when no one knows anything that’s good.”

Management is aware of the disconnect. This Wednesday, Biden will be in Chicago to give a speech explaining bidenomics and trying to convince Americans that the economy is thriving under his leadership.

The speech is part of a three-week push in which top officials will travel across the country to make the case that legislation championed by the president is working for Americans.

This includes massive investments under the infrastructure act, the COVID-19 relief package, and the CHIPS and Science Act that injects more than $52 billion into semiconductor research, development, manufacturing, and workforce development.

Republicans believe that some of the administration’s policies are too costly and contribute to high inflation. They say most of the job gains since 2021 were simply jobs recovering from the pandemic, not new job creation.

Still, the decision to brand the country’s fortune with the president’s name reflects the administration’s confidence that the trajectory is upward and the economy will not slide into recession, at least before November 2024, when the presidential election.

Last week, the Federal Reserve halted its aggressive rate-raising campaign for the first time in 18 months, but signaled that the battle against inflation is not over. Interest rates are likely to rise further, even in July.

Move over Reaganomics

bidenomics it is also an attempt to distinguish the agenda of the president and the Democrats from that of the Republicans who favor lower taxes and public spending.

Biden and his aides have often criticized former Republican President Ronald Reagan’s agenda of lowering tax rates, deregulating and cutting spending on government programs. From the impulse of reaganomics In the 1980s, Republicans have credited low taxes with increasing corporate profits and ultimately all workers and the general population.

“He rejected trickle-down economics, the theory that tax cuts at the top would trickle down, that all we needed was for government to get out of the way,” said Brainard, director of Biden’s economic council.

“That failed approach led to a pullback in private investment from key industries, from semiconductors to solar power. It led to a deterioration of the nation’s infrastructure. And it led to the loss of the path to the middle class for far too many Americans and too many communities across the country.”

Brainard said that in Chicago the president will outline the main pillars of bidenomics, including strategic investments in critical sectors such as infrastructure, clean energy and semiconductors; empower and educate American workers, particularly those who have been previously marginalized; and promote competition to reduce costs and provide fair opportunities for small businesses.

Just two weeks ago, Republicans in the US House of Representatives unveiled a proposal for a series of new tax breaks targeting businesses and families, a proposal that would reverse some of Biden’s legislative victories.

[Katherine Gypson contribuyó a este despacho]

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