Is Bidenomics for Real?

President Joe Biden speaks about his economic plan at LIUNA Training Center in DeForest, Wis., on Feb. 8, 2023. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

What a difference a year makes. In 2020, under former president Donald Trump, inflation in the United States averaged 1.4 percent. One year later, inflation’s annual rate was 8 percent. As of June 2023, it’s hovering around 4 percent. That’s still higher than what the past administration had.

Now, President Joe Biden is touting an economic plan to save America’s economy. On June 28, Biden announced his new plan and called it Bidenomics. But what exactly is Bidenomics?

Bidenomics Plan Grew Economy From Bottom Up

Bidenomics is the opposite of Reaganomics. Reagonomics held to the trickle-down economic theory—meaning that tax breaks and benefits for corporations will eventually trickle down and benefit everyone. This allows businesses, investors, and entrepreneurs to stimulate economic growth.

Bidenomics is the opposite. It is about building from the bottom up and the middle out, according to Anat Shenker-Osorio, founder of ASO Communications. His company focuses on political messaging.

According to the White House, this is done by:

• making smart investments in America
• empowering and educating workers
• promoting competition

Making smart investments refers to investing in infrastructure. While empowering and educating workers refers to educating American workers who don’t have a four-year or technical degree, it also refers to making it easier to join a union.

And, finally, promoting competition goes along with new anti-trust laws and enforcement.

What Has Bidenomics Accomplished So Far

The Whit House stated that Bidenomics added “13 million jobs and nearly 800,000 manufacturing jobs” to the economy. But the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported different numbers.

In 2021, 4.6 million jobs were added; according to the BLS, this number equated to only half the jobs that were lost in 2020. The total jobs eliminated in 2020 was 9.4 million.

In 2022, 6.3 million jobs were added. So, the total 10.9 million jobs created in 2021 and 2022 made up for the lost jobs in 2020.

The White House went on to tout that inflation has fallen for 11 straight months.

But inflation had hovered around 7 percent in the last six months of 2022 and only now has dipped in the last six months.

Mr. Biden noted that pay for low-wage workers had increased at the fastest pace over two decades. However, pay increases didn’t keep up with inflation.

The national pay increase in 2022 was, on average, 4 percent, according to the human resource association SHRM. But inflation for 2022 averaged 8 percent.

What Happened to the Administrations’ Modern Supply-Side Economics?

This isn’t the first time the administration has branded an economic plan. In January 2022, Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen touted modern supply-side economics.

In remarks at the World Economic Forum in 2022, Ms. Yellen described the Biden administration’s economic growth strategy. They were implementing modern supply-side economics. Modern supply-side economics was an answer to supply-side economics.

Supply-side economics says that economic growth can be fostered by decreasing regulation, lowering taxes and allowing free trade.

Modern supply-side economics argues that the government can invest more efficiently than the private sector based on enlightened political motives because the private sector has a profit motive.

Yellen explained that modern side-economics “prioritizes labor supply, human capital, public infrastructure, R&D and investments in a sustainable environment.” She said focusing on these areas increases economic growth and addresses longer-term structural problems like inequality.

The Biden administration embraced modern supply-side economics. But whereas supply-side economics creates a private incentive to work, modern supply-side economics expands government benefits.

For example, the Build Back Better Plan of 2022 cost $2.2 trillion. And in keeping with the “sustainable environment,” $555 billion went toward clean energy and climate change provisions. Billions were also earmarked for housing, childcare, and child tax credits.

The term modern supply-side economics has moved aside for the newest approach, Bidenomics.

What Americans Say About Bidenomics

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed, “People are feeling better about their finances.” What are Americans saying about President Biden and his economics?

A June poll by Harvard-Harris showed 61 percent disapproved of Biden’s handling the economy. CBC showed a 64 percent disapproval rating and Fox News had 60 percent disapproving. All three news outlets had people who approved of Biden’s handling the economy in the 30-plus percent range.

Biden’s handling of inflation had similar results in the polls. Harvard-Harris had 64 percent disapproving of how Biden handled inflation and CBS News found a 70 percent disapproval rating. Fox News numbers weren’t available.

Bidenomics Final Report Card

The Winston Group’s Presidential Inflation Rate (PIR) tells how Bidenomics is doing. The PIR measures a president’s handling of inflation from the inauguration month to the latest CPI report. The percentage difference in these two numbers indicates the performance rate better than just looking at numbers year to year.

It shows what the overall price increase has been since Biden took office.

Biden’s PIR is based on January 2021 CPI compared to the May 2023 CPI report. Inflation was at 1.4 percent in January 2021, according to the BLS. But inflation peaked at 9.1 in June 2022, a 40-year high.

In May 2023, looking at overall CPI numbers for Biden’s time in office, his overall inflation rate had increased to 16.3 percent. That means prices overall have increased 16.3 percent since Biden was inaugurated. Comparing this to the last seven presidents, only President Jimmy Carter had a worse number, at 18.1 percent.

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