The Triumph of Bidenomics!

[KCfromNC]

Is someone forgetting the impact that the Covid 19 pandemic had upon the economy with all of those lockdowns which were enforced longer in blue states and blue cities than they were enforced in red states and red cities?

Please explain how Trump caused the recession in 2020.

It's kinda like how Biden is directly and solely responsible for gas prices - you just have to take it on faith.

 

[Laodicean60]

He caused the Trump Recession of 2020. It's named after him, so it should be easy to remember in the future.

What Causes a Recession?

A recession, or a decline in economic activity lasting several months, is usually caused by events such as a financial crisis or supply chain disruption. Learn more.

www.investopedia.com

 

[NxNW]

Is someone forgetting the impact that the Covid 19 pandemic had upon the economy with all of those lockdowns which were enforced longer in blue states and blue cities than they were enforced in red states and red cities?

Please explain how Trump caused the recession in 2020.

He promised us the number of Covid cases were going to be near zero, and clearly failed in that promise.

 

[NxNW]

What Causes a Recession?

A recession, or a decline in economic activity lasting several months, is usually caused by events such as a financial crisis or supply chain disruption. Learn more.

www.investopedia.com

Isn't it interesting that every recession of the last 40+ years happens while a Republican is President.

 

[iluvatar5150]

PCE price index went negative in November:

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/22/economy/pce-inflation-consumer-spending-november/index.html

 

[Laodicean60]

Isn't it interesting that every recession of the last 40+ years happens while a Republican is President.

Not really, it's monetary policy by the Federal Reserve that cause recession like the one coming (soft or hard?). We had inflation due to the reaction of COVID and now to lower inflation the FED most always causes a recession. I know you guys want to drum up a political war. If you understand the economy especially an overheated economy, then you might change your tactic of blame.

 

[Vambram]

He promised us the number of Covid cases were going to be near zero, and clearly failed in that promise.

I don't recall that promise at all. Can you provide evidence for that claim?

 

[essentialsaltes]

I don't recall that promise at all. Can you provide evidence for that claim?

Not exactly a promise, but...

“The level that we’ve had in our country is very low,” Trump said, referring to new confirmed infections, “and those people are getting better, or we think that in almost all cases they’re better, or getting. We have a total of 15. We took in some from Japan — you heard about that — because they’re American citizens, and they’re in quarantine.”

“So, again,” he added later, “when you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done.”

 

[wing2000]

More good news for the economy:

"Data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis released today showed inflation continuing to come down. In November the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index was 2.6% over the previous November, down from 2.9% in October. The Federal Reserve aims for 2%. Falling gas prices meant that overall, prices actually dropped in November for the first time since April 2020.

In a statement, President Joe Biden reminded Americans that “[a] year ago, most forecasters predicted it would require a spike in joblessness and a slowdown to get inflation down. I never believed that. I never gave up on the hard work, grit, and resilience of millions of Americans.” In addition to the falling inflation rate, he noted that “the unemployment rate has stayed below 4 percent for 22 months in a row, and wages, wealth, and the share of working-age Americans with jobs are higher now than they were before the pandemic began.”

“But,” he said, “our work is far from finished.” To continue to lower prices for hardworking families, he said, he is focused “on lowering costs—from bringing down the price of insulin, prescription drugs, and energy, to addressing hidden junk fees companies use to rip you off, to calling on large corporations to pass savings on to consumers as their costs moderate.”

The administration is highlighting economic numbers not just because they are good—and they are: real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by an astonishing annual rate of 4.9% in the third quarter of 2023; under Trump it was 2.5% before the pandemic knocked the bottom out of everything—but also because they illustrate the administration’s return to an economic theory under which the U.S. government operated from 1933 to 1981."

December 22, 2023

Data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis released today showed inflation continuing to come down. In November the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index was 2.6% over the previous November, down from 2.9% in October. The Federal Reserve aims for 2%. Falling gas prices meant that...

open.substack.com

 

[ThatRobGuy]

I can appreciate Biden's sentiment that the best way to grow an economy is from the middle out. That happens to be my personal philosophy as well.

However, I think many of the "successes" of Bidenomics that get touted are artificially exaggerated due to the effects of coming out of the "pandemic phase" of Covid.

Especially with regards to unemployment numbers.

Pretty much anyone presiding over the time period in which everything went from "forced closure and job loss" to "reopening" is going to see positive upticks in certain key metrics, regardless of their policies.

Now, to be clear, I'm not definitively saying that none of his ideas had positive impacts... they very well could have, there were some things implemented that think should've been implemented 15 years ago. I'm saying that the transition from pandemic to post-pandemic isn't a proper testing ground for any economic approach because it's always going to artificially skew in the direction of favorable.

Example:
If I was elected mayor during a time when every restaurant was forced to close, establishments were forced to operate at limited capacity, and 40% of people were afraid to leave their house, and then you open the flood gates and let things go back to normal, you're going to see positive improvements in certain areas no matter what I do.

I could've had a policy as comically ridiculous as "The Rob Burgernomics plan" where my plan is to give everyone a free $5 gift card to Burger King to get a Whopper, if I did that during that same transition phase, certain numbers are going to indicate improvement in that time window...

That wouldn't mean "Burgernomics" is the key to success nor does it mean that it would have the same level of positive impacts under normal conditions.

While I side a "tad" more with Democrats on the economic front on some key issues, I've noted before that it likely wouldn't have mattered who was in office during that transition period.

If you go from "everything closed, you have to stay home" to "alright, everyone go back to work and eat in restaurants and go shopping again", certain metrics are going to improve by default and you'd actually have to try pretty hard to screw that up.

The range in that situation is going to be "Improve a lot <-> Improve a whole helluva lot"

 

[wing2000]

The U.S. job market capped off a strong year in December, as employers continued hiring at a solid pace.
Employers added 216,000 jobs last month, according to the Labor Department. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.7%.
Unemployment has now been under 4% for almost two years — the longest streak of rock-bottom jobless rates since the Vietnam War.

For all of 2023, employers added 2.7 million jobs. That's a slowdown from the two previous years, when the economy was red-hot, rapidly rebounding from pandemic layoffs. But last year's job growth was still stronger than every other year since 2015.

https://www.npr.org/2024/01/05/1222714145/jobs-report-december-labor-wages

 

[essentialsaltes]

More good news for the economy:
“But,” he said, “our work is far from finished.” To continue to lower prices for hardworking families, he said, he is focused “on lowering costs—from bringing down the price of insulin, prescription drugs

Patients see 1st savings from Biden's drug price push, as Pharma lines up its lawyers​

Last year alone, David Mitchell paid $16,525 for 12 little bottles of Pomalyst, one of the pricey medications that treat his multiple myeloma, a blood cancer he was diagnosed with in 2010.

Patients for Affordable Drugs, which he founded in 2016, was instrumental in getting drug price reforms into the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Those changes are kicking in now, and Mitchell, 73, is an early beneficiary.

In January, he plunked down $3,308 for a Pomalyst refill "and that's it," he said. Under the law, he has no further responsibility for his drug costs this year -- a savings of more than $13,000.

"From a selfish perspective, I feel great about it," he said. But the payment cap will be "truly life-changing" for hundreds of thousands of other Medicare patients, Mitchell said.

With Election Day on the horizon, the president is trying to make sure voters know who was responsible.

 

[NxNW]

I guess it's time to revive this thread, so everyone can review the numbers.

 

[The Barbarian]

Remember the Republican mantra: deficits don't matter.

Actually, it's "deficits don't matter if a republican president caused them."

 

[The Barbarian]

And things have gotten better since December. Notice that the republicans no longer want to talk about the economy? For good reason.

Appears that abortion is dragging them down, and since they opposed increased funding for border protection, that's working against them. Republicans in deep red districts don't worry, but lots of republican reps in more moderate districts are running scared.

 

[Ana the Ist]

The supposedly-left-wing media seems to be doing a great job of discussing Biden's age, but not such a great job covering the stunning success of Bidenomics. Here are some numbers grudgingly reported by the right-wing media.

Inflation is receding and even reversing!

https://www.wsj.com/economy/goods-deflation-is-back-it-could-speed-inflations-return-to-2-c782d434?st=tyypnprf9k8adhu&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Prices for long-lasting items, known as durable goods, have fallen on a year-over-year basis for five straight months. In October, they were down 2.6% from their peak in September 2022, according to data released Thursday by the Commerce Department. That has helped bring down core inflation, which excludes the volatile food and energy categories, to 3.5% in October, from 5.5% in September 2022, as measured by the personal-consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge.

The economy is growing at the amazing pace of 5.2%!

https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-dow-jones-11-29-2023/card/economy-grew-faster-than-thought-in-q3-but-slowdown-expected-CivDqG8scwqDUnP0qZSh

The economy grew faster than previously estimated during the third quarter—at a blistering seasonally- and inflation-adjusted 5.2% annual rate—because there was more fixed investment as well as state and local government spending than initially thought, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

Even with the UAW strike, job creation is solid. Fears of a recession are disappearing.

US labor market loosens as job gains slow, unemployment rate hits 3.9%​

• Nonfarm payrolls increase 150,000 in October
• Auto strikes reduce payrolls by 33,000 jobs
• Unemployment rate rises to 3.9% from 3.8%
• Average hourly earnings gain 0.2%; up 4.1% year-on-year

The economy added 101,000 fewer jobs in August and September than previously estimated, also suggesting slowing labor market momentum. The report strengthened financial market expectations that the Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates for the current cycle, and improved the chances of the U.S. central bank engineering a "soft-landing" for the economy rather than plunging it into recession as some economists had feared.

Manufacturing employment dropped 35,000, with the UAW strike at Ford Motor (F.N), General Motors (GM.N) and Chrysler parent Stellantis (STLAM.MI) factories as well as at Mack Trucks plants subtracting 33,000 jobs.


Seriously, there isn't much to complain about where the economy is concerned. But you have to go looking for the information.

So as long as we don't look at the prices of food and energy (because who really needs food and electricity or gas?) prices are dropping?

Who is dumb enough to write this article?

Energy costs affect the costs of everything....because the overwhelming majority of all products, including food, have to be shipped to the consumer.

That's why nobody except the Biden administration removes the cost of energy or even food when calculating prices and inflation.

That's not far off from saying..."as long as we don't factor the spending power of money, inflation is extremely stable".

 

[Ana the Ist]

So as long as we don't look at the prices of food and energy (because who really needs food and electricity or gas?) prices are dropping?

Who is dumb enough to write this article?

Energy costs affect the costs of everything....because the overwhelming majority of all products, including food, have to be shipped to the consumer.

That's why nobody except the Biden administration removes the cost of energy or even food when calculating prices and inflation.

That's not far off from saying..."as long as we don't factor the spending power of money, inflation is extremely stable".

Oh never mind...this is a critique of the left wing media...for being honest and not telling a lie so big it would reduce their already dismal credibility. They have to make a living and if they tell people the moon is made out of cheese...people might notice they're lying lol.

Is this the Babylon Bee? The Onion? Is it some sort of comedy or satire article?

What sort of products are they claiming to be unaffected by the cost of energy in their manufacturing or delivery processes?

 

[Ana the Ist]

Actually, this is pretty useful....just expand the concept a bit. Tell everyone that as long as we don't consider the costs of energy, food, labor, or materials used in manufacturing....not only are prices dropping, but all products are basically free.

And then we look at the comments section and anyone who believes that is some sort of indicator of economic success loses the ability to vote.

 

[Ana the Ist]

"Breaking News! Under the success of Bidenomics, the price of rainwater has fallen like rain from the sky!"

I guess even the left wing media looked at this and said..."listen, I know we've been real helpful so far...but people basically don't trust us anymore and that's a whopper too big for even us."

 

[Gene2memE]

Core inflation - which excludes energy prices and food exactly because of their volatility - has been a standard economic measure since at least the 1970.

This is Econ 101 level stuff.

Even when you include the items - know as headline inflation - US inflation is dropping and is closing in on the long-run average of 3.6, and is forecast to reach the Fed's target of about 2% by mid to late 2025.

Headline inflation was SUBSTANTIALLY LOWER than core inflation in January. 2.7% vs 3.9% (12 month running average) or 2.6% vs 3.1 % (year on year change).

This is mostly because of the fall in oil prices (down roughly 4.5% to 5%) and slower growth in food prices (up about 2.5 to 2.7%).