We hold these truths to be self-evident: all men and women are created, by the, you know the, you know the thing.
Joe Biden
I hold this truth to be self-evident: Joe Biden is no economist. He is all politician; holding a press conference after a good jobs report and hiding when petrol prices hit record highs. He mismanaged transportation corridors to ignite 40-year-high inflation. His easy trillions invited labor shortages. Now, he’s penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, claiming his “economic recovery is the strongest of any major economy.” Who knew?
According to the RCP average, not 60% of America that does not approve of Biden’s handling of the economy, which is why he urged readers to “look how far we’ve come” and some ghost-writer cherry-picked data to portray Biden as Wunderkind, starting with jobs: 4% unemployment, 13 million new jobs, and higher share of working-age Americans in the workforce than under Trump.
Biden uses the BLS unemployment rate – and 4% is low – but the broadest measure of civilian employment is the household survey, which is adjusted for population change. That number was 159.6M in January 2020 and 160.7M in May 2023. That’s at most 1.1 million workers on Biden’s watch. Plus, his new jobs are mostly old jobs lost during the 2020 COVID panic (and mostly recovered in the second half of 2020 under Trump).
Biden claims “a higher share of working age Americans” (aged 15 to 64) than under Trump. The total employment rate (persons who did any work for pay or profit) at year-end was 59.7% in 2016 (Obama), 60.1% in 2019 (Trump), and 60% in 2022 (Biden). Take Biden’s boast with a grain of salt; the share of America’s population that is working age dropped from 67.1% in 2010 to 61.9% in 2022. By the way, that “share” is affected by generational shifts.
Look at the 2020 labor-participation chart below: higher rates for 25-54-year-olds, a lower rate for 16-24-year-olds, and the lowest rate for Americans 55+. Biden didn’t disclose the disturbing workforce change from 2020 to 2022. There’s now record high employment (41.1%) for Americans 55+ who can’t leave the workforce because of rising retirement-living costs, and record low (41.5%) employment for 16-24-year-olds who won’t enter the workforce because of entitlements.
Biden claims real income for “poor Americans” is up 3.4%, and there are fewer late mortgage payments and personal bankruptcies than before COVID. He is full of malarkey; since he took office, real wages – adjusted for inflation – have dropped 4% for all Americans (source: house.gov). And, the Foreclosure Market Report shows 23 months in a row of year-over-year increases in property foreclosures.
This month, property foreclosures are up 22% from last year, credit-card debt is a record $1.3 trillion, student-loan debt is a record $1.8 trillion, and total personal debt is a record $24.9 trillion (source: National Debt Clock). Since Biden entered office, 2.5 million have gone on food stamps, and personal-debt-per-citizen has increased 39.2%. He can gloat, but consumers, homeowners, and taxpayers are probably headed toward a very hard landing.
That Biden would brag the “inflation rate has fallen for ten straight months” and “gasoline prices are down more than $1.40” just proves his deceit. Inflation – after averaging 1.8% for ten years – hit 7% in 2021 because he mismanaged a pandemic. His energy policies induced a gallon of petrol to hit $5.03 in his second year (now $3.66 – 50% higher than his first day in office). In fact, he was warned of inflation and kept spending, forcing the Federal Reserve to hike rates so fast some big banks failed. Now, why didn’t he mention Silicon Valley Bank?
Does anybody believe Biden’s boast of being a deficit hawk? The federal deficit hit $984B in 2019, $3.1T in 2020, and $1.5T this week. Great, but since he entered office, the national debt has grown 21% from $26.3T to $31.8T, annual interest paid on federal debt has risen 73.5% from $334B to $579.5B, and debt to GDP is at an all-time high (source: National Debt Clock).
Biden takes credit for $479 billion in private-sector investment, when such a spike occurs after all recessions. After rising every year under Trump, COVID caused private-sector investment to fall 50% in 2020. And, St. Louis Fed data shows Biden’s 2-year number ($1.1T) is third to Trump ($1.3T in 2018-2019) and Obama ($1.2T in 2014-2015). What’s obvious is the ghost-writer used COVID-crushed 2020 (and Trump) as Biden’s go-to comparison.
Saturday, Biden held his first re-election rally in Philadelphia, telling union workers that GOP boogie men “are coming for your jobs” by changing “the plan on infrastructure” and getting “rid of all these clean energy investments.” Boo! Vote for me or they gonna cut working-class benefits (actually, the GOP cut benefits to people who can work but won’t). Biden told his audience, “I truly believe this country’s about to take off.” How?
How does an economy “take off” when the CBO predicts cumulative deficits between 2024 and 2033 of $20.3 trillion, and annual net interest costs of $1.4 trillion in 2033? That’s one reason the apolitical Conference Board puts the odds of a recession in the next year at 99% – and CBS reports most voters do not approve of how Biden’s managed the economy (64%) and inflation (70%).
Joe Biden can lie, but he cannot hide. The truth will out: he’s responsible for a mountain of debt and dearth of young workers. It’s time for him to go – but God save the Queen, man!
