President Joe Biden touted the state of U.S. economy under his leadership in Chicago on Wednesday, making his pitch to the public that his economic agenda – dubbed "Bidenomics" – is working.
In a major speech, Biden argued his guiding principle of growing the economy from the “middle-out and the bottom-up” is better than the often Republican-favored trickle-down approach, which focuses on providing tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy with the aim it will create economic growth and benefit everyone.
“The trickle-down approach failed the middle class,” Biden said Wednesday. “It failed America. It blew up the deficit. It increased inequity. And it weakened our infrastructure. It stripped the dignity, pride and hope out of communities, one after another.”
Chair of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers Jared Bernstein said in an interview with Spectrum News on Wednesday Biden’s middle out, bottom up approach is built on three pillars: educating the workforce, promoting more competition and reinvesting in America, which he said includes “reversing decades of disinvestment in our public goods, our roads, our bridges, our ports, our water systems.”
Biden pointed out policies he championed -- investments in infrastructure, enabling Medicare to negotiate prices of some drugs, capping insulin at $35 per month and funding apprenticeships and programs that prepare workers for jobs that require some post-secondary education but not a four-year degree – and argued they helped create a thriving economy that has seen 13 million jobs added since the start of his presidency.
Republicans quickly jumped on the administration’s new push, with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., calling ‘Bidenomics’ an “economic disaster where government causes decades-high inflation, high gas prices, lower paychecks, and crippling uncertainty that leaves Americans worse off” on Twitter Wednesday.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, wrote on Twitter: “No one’s buying into Bidenomics.”
GOP officials say their tax cuts have encouraged business investments and profits that have improved pay for workers and bolstered the stock market, while greater government spending would cause prices to keep rising and waste money.
The unemployment rate stands near a historic low at 3.7% and the inflation that has plagued Biden’s presidency has fallen to 4% from a peak of 9.1% last June. However, the Federal Reserve’s aim of 2% inflation means prices are still rising significantly faster than targeted and polls show most Americans disapprove of Biden’s leadership on the economy.
An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll last month found that just 33% of American adults said they approved of Biden’s handling of the economy and only 24% said national economic conditions are in good shape.
“If you get down to the components of Bidenomics, and you ask people how they feel about them, they feel very positive. So the fact that we're setting up this kind of framework today and trying to help people understand what we're up to, yeah, I'm confident that's going to make a positive difference,” Bernstein said when asked if he believes the White House’s new push will make a difference in public opinion.
Political Science professor at the University of Akron Dr. David Cohen agreed, saying the disconnect with the public could come from a lack of linking the economy to Biden’s policies.
“The communication problem has really not gone away from the very beginning and so I think this is a very smart move, they need to keep leaning into it,” he said. “There is certainly a risk, and that is, if the economy goes south again before the November 2024 election.”
The Treasury Department released an analysis showing that spending on factory-related construction has doubled since 2021 after adjusting for inflation. White House economists issued a report that shows inflation is lower in the U.S. than the rest of industrialized nations in the Group of Seven.
The administration hopes voters connect local roads and bridge projects, factory construction and the rise of electric vehicles and renewable energy to the millions of dollars in initiatives Biden signed into law during the first two years of his administration.
“Bidenomics is about the future,” Biden declared in his Wednesday speech. “Bidenomics is just another way of saying: Restore the American dream.”
As he was departing Washington on Wednesday, Biden said he believes the U.S. will avoid the recession that many economic analysts have been expecting.
When asked if the administration believes we have seen the worst of inflation, Bernstein called the 11-month slow in inflation a “pretty solid established trend.”
“Any one month can bounce the other way, but that longer term trend? Yes, I think that's pretty embedded,” he said.
The administration just launched a second wave of its “Investing in America” tour, sending top officials on the road to tout what they consider Biden’s biggest legislative accomplishments.
The new travel blitz kicked off on Monday when Biden announced a $42 billion broadband initiative from the bipartisan infrastructure law, with the president pledging high-speed internet for every household in America by 2030.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.