The Economic Argument that Biden Probably Won't Make
Some true things are bad politics
The American economy is kicking fucking ass. But don’t take my wholly accurate “kicking fucking ass” characterization at face value: Here are real GDP, unemployment, and inflation during the Biden administration (from CNBC and YCharts):
We have recovered from Covid, ridden out the post-Covid global inflation shock, and are now off and running. The stock market is gangbusters. And here’s the effect that the tight labor market is having on the working poor (from The Economist):
See what I mean? Kicking fucking ass.
Of course, the president is just one factor influencing the economy. Maybe Biden was lucky — maybe he was simply in the right place at the right time, like Ringo Starr. Before we can give Biden credit for the economy — before we should give Biden credit for the economy — we should be able to point to choices he made that look good in hindsight.
Do those choices exist? Yes, I think they do. But I don’t think we’ll hear about them much during the campaign, because what should be one of Biden’s biggest strengths can be spun as a weakness.