Biden Takes Economics ‘Victory Lap’ While Inflation Persists and Recession Looms

President Joe Biden delivered the latest in a series of “Bidenomics” speeches in Milwaukee on August 15, following it up with yet another “victory lap” at the White House the next day. But a strong majority of the American public disapproves of the president’s handling of the economy, with a leading expert stating that Biden has not put in place “a single policy … that [has] help[ed] our economy.”

An Associated Press/NORC poll released last week shows that only 36% of Americans approve of Biden’s economic policies, which was markedly lower than his 42% approval rating. The poll also found 55% of Democrats saying that the president should not run for office in 2024.

The news comes as a Moody’s Analytics report last week found that Americans are spending an average of $709 more per month on the same everyday goods and services than they were two years ago. Even so, Biden has insisted that “inflation is down … and it’s going lower” despite the fact that inflation is continuing to occur, with the Consumer Price Index continuing its climb since Biden took office.

Stephen Moore, a distinguished fellow in Economics at The Heritage Foundation, pointed to a variety of indicators showing that Biden’s economic policies have increased expenses for average Americans.

“You’ve got inflation that’s run at 16% since Biden came into presidency,” he noted on Monday’s edition of “Washington Watch.” “And meanwhile, wages and salaries are up 13%. … That means that every month that goes by virtually, Biden has made American families poorer, and we estimate at The Heritage Foundation that that’s by about $5,000 in lost real purchasing power by median income families.”

“[T]hat’s like a tax,” he continued. “Have you noticed Biden keeps saying, ‘I haven’t raised taxes on the middle class.’ But of course he has, because … inflation is a tax. The other thing I would say is look at gas prices. I filled up in Virginia just this weekend. I paid $4.29 a gallon. That’s a huge, huge tax on American families.”

Moore, who also serves as a senior economic contributor at FreedomWorks, went on to observe that the door was open for Biden to aid an economic rebound at the beginning of his presidency as the COVID pandemic eased.

“Let’s not forget, when Joe Biden came into office, the economy was ready to boom,” he pointed out. “Remember, COVID was over the last six months of the Trump administration, [and] all of these businesses were reopening. People were going back to work. So we shouldn’t be talking about a recession now. We should be talking about an economic boom for American families. And it just hasn’t happened. Because just as one example … when Trump left office, we were completely energy independent. We were actually exporting oil and gas. Now we have to depend on the Saudis. We have to depend on OPEC. We have to depend on Russia to get our energy. I mean, is that crazy?”

Moore further contended that Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which was pushed through Congress in August 2022 without a single Republican vote, has done the opposite of what it was touted as achieving. “That bill is really the Inflation Acceleration Act,” he argued. “It has made the economy worse, not better. … [T]his wasn’t about reducing inflation. It wasn’t about benefiting the American economy. It was about the Left’s obsession with climate change.”

As observers are pointing out, the “manufacturing boom” touted by Biden is being driven by “hundreds of billions in manufacturing subsidies for politically favored industries such as green energy [which] has artificially boosted key numbers like gross domestic product and construction spending in the manufacturing sector.” In addition, experts are also concerned about a continued pattern of jobs not being filled, which is keeping the unemployment rate artificially low.

“I have a hard time looking at a single policy that Biden has put in place that helps our economy,” Moore said.

“I think that Americans fundamentally are nervous about what’s happening,” he continued. “Look, Joe Biden has added over $6 trillion to the debt in just two and a half years in office … and the longer-term forecast is for another $10 trillion in debt. Now, look, … I think [Trump] did great things for the economy, but even he didn’t cut spending enough. [W]e have a spending problem in Washington. We have a debt problem. … We can’t leave our children and grandchildren a $50 trillion debt, [which] we are on the course for.”

Moore expressed cautious optimism about America’s economic resilience, but encouraged prayer for the outlook going forward.

“I never bet against the American economy, because we have an incredibly resilient economy,” he emphasized. “We have incredible businessmen. We have great leaders of American small businesses. … I’m praying at night that we don’t go into recession. I want America to do as well as it can.”