Biden makes economic sales pitch as campaign ramps up

The Biden administration this week sought to turn the economic tide around, touting major investments and major endorsements on the back of unexpectedly strong economic data.

New polls show Americans' views on economic conditions are improving, but most are in negative territory, making it difficult for an administration that wants people to believe in an unambiguous economic success story. It is a source of serious dissatisfaction.

President Biden, who visited Wisconsin this week to tout his infrastructure law, laughed at economists who falsely believed the U.S. economy would slip into recession sometime in 2023, when in reality that won't happen. There wasn't.

“Experts have been saying ever since I was elected that a recession was on the horizon. Every month, there would be a recession,” Biden said. He said with a laugh as he read this week's dizzying headlines about the GDP growth rate reaching an annual rate of 3.3%.

This follows 4.9% growth in the third quarter, and is another big upside at a time when the consensus among economists and even the Federal Reserve was that the U.S. was headed for contraction. It was a surprise.

Biden this week also rode a wave of pro-union sentiment carried over from the so-called “summer of strikes.” Several high-profile labor actions in the industry during a period of rising inflation led to contract wins for workers.

“I was so proud to stand on the picket line with you,” Biden told the United Auto Workers (UAW) at a union event in Washington on Wednesday, along with UAW President Sean. He received presidential support from Mr. Fain and reinvigorated labor unions and trade unions. developed new strike tactics during recent work stoppages against automakers Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.

According to the paper, Biden was the first sitting president in U.S. history to join a picket line. AFL-CIO Federation of Labor Unions. According to a poll, Americans' support for labor unions will reach its highest level in nearly 60 years in 2022. gallup.

Biden is trying to capitalize on that trend. Treasury report is mostly positive It was published last summer on the economic effects of union formation and its role in building America's middle class. He has also vowed to be the “most pro-union president” in history and has won praise from unions for his efforts to revitalize the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also praised the economy this week, noting positive trends in overall growth, consistently low unemployment, falling inflation and improving consumer sentiment, which has improved significantly in recent months.

Yellen was sharply critical of the administration's pandemic response, which has been characterized by significant stimulus.

“Simply put, this is the fairest economic recovery on record,” he said in a speech Thursday. “We see this as a benefit not just for middle-class Americans, but also across demographic groups, including faster declines in unemployment rates for Black and Hispanic Americans.”

The sell-off between Biden and Yellen comes days after former President Trump defeated former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley in New Hampshire's Republican primary.

Haley has vowed to remain in the race for the Republican nomination, but both the Biden and Trump campaigns are pivoting toward a possible rematch in November..

How Americans feel about the economy by then could play a key role in whether Biden or Trump wins.

President Trump earlier this month predicted the economy would collapse within the next 12 months and said he hoped that would happen under the Biden administration, lest the former president carry the stain of millions of job losses. Ta.

But other Republicans agree that, by standard econometric measurements, the economy is doing very well.

Larry Kudlow, who served as director of the White House National Economic Council under former President Donald Trump, said Thursday that if he were president, he would also brag about the state of the economy.

“[Biden] GDP recorded a good 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter, following 4.9 percent in the third quarter. Well, if I were him, I'd brag about that too. And inflation has gone down,” Kudlow said Thursday on Fox Business Network.

Inflation fell from nearly 9% annually in mid-2022 to 3.3% in December. “Core” inflation, as measured by the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index (excluding volatile energy and food), fell to 2.9% in December, putting it in the Federal Reserve's target range of 2%. Approaching the.

Despite the positive indicators, polling on Mr. Biden's handling of the economy has not been positive, although he is starting to see signs of improvement.

A Republican poll released this week found that Democrats' positive view of the U.S. economy rose to 44%, up from 31% a year ago, and 13% among Republicans, up from 12%. Pew Research Center.

Pew reports that the share of Americans who think the economy will be worse off in a year's time has fallen from 46% last April to 33% now.

But impressions of the economy remain far lower than they were before the pandemic, with 57 percent of Americans thinking the economy was good or excellent at the time.

In the face of so much positive data, both the Biden administration and many people market commentator Americans are wondering why they don't feel as good about the economy as the data suggests, and they're even expressing anger.

Although core inflation has fallen and wage growth has generally kept pace with price growth, price levels in many key sectors of the economy remain much higher than before the pandemic.

From February 2020, grocery prices It has increased by about 25%, gas price It has increased by about 25%, rent This is an increase of approximately 21%. Food, rent, and gas make up the majority of expenses for many American households. During the same period, wage Increased by 20%.

Similarly, since the pandemic, mortgage rates have skyrocketed, rising from about 3.3% to more than 6.7%.

Another reason for disconnection may be: profit It has exceeded expectations, but it is not evenly distributed across the economy.

According to the Census Bureau, only one-fifth of American households receive income in the form of dividends, interest, or rent. According to the Federal Reserve, only 58 percent of U.S. households own no stocks, and more than half of all corporate stocks and mutual funds are owned by the Federal Reserve. top 1 percent of the richest families.

Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Tim Scott (RS.C.), The unsuccessful candidate for the Republican presidential nomination this year acknowledged in a hearing last month on Wall Street oversight that his access to profits could be restricted.

“If you want to actually experience wealth in America, you have to experience the benefits of profit or capital. Having capital comes from having capital. Having capital is usually something you are born with. “It means either having capital to do business or having access to capital because you have an idea or a vision to better your community or this country,” he said.

This week, Yellen praised the administration's economic performance while acknowledging that the long-term trend in the economy is that wages, a primary source of income for many Americans rather than profits, have stagnated.

“Median real wages have been stagnant for decades,” he said Thursday. “Between 1979 and 2019, they grew by only 8 percent. At age 30, 90 percent of my generation were earning more than their parents at the same age. By contrast, only half of children born in the mid-1980s earned more than that.

“Both the President and I understand that many Americans were feeling a deeper sense of pessimism about the economy, going back long before the pandemic,” he said. “The long-term trends I have described continue to make life difficult for the middle class in this country.”