The New York Times Grades Biden's Economy on a Curve

By Dan Mitchell on June 22, 2024

Back in February, I debunked a Washington Post story that tried to portray Biden's economy as being successful merely because the U.S. was out-performing Europe.

That's true, but hardly a big achievement.

More important, that type of analysis won't be persuasive to voters who are unhappy about sluggish wages and stagnant incomes.

Today's column is going to review a story in the New York Times that also tries to put a positive spin on the Biden economy by comparing America to other nations.

The authors, Jim Tankersley and Madeleine Ngo, are puzzled that Biden isn't getting more credit for a an economy that was "juiced" by his so-called stimulus.

Here are some excerpts.

Polls show that Americans continue to favor Mr. Biden's opponent, former President Donald J. Trump, on economic issues. Often, they indicate that only relatively small slices of the electorate believe Mr. Biden's policies have helped them or their family financially. ...Economists say the relief package...has helped accelerate America's recovery from the pandemic recession. The United States has grown and added jobs in a way that no other wealthy nation has experienced after the pandemic. Supporters of Mr. Biden, and the law, say that enhanced growth has helped the president remain better positioned electorally than his counterparts across Europe. ...America's rapid economic growth and low unemployment rate, bolstered by the stimulus, could help explain that divergence. ...America's recovery remains the envy of the wealthy world, far outpacing Europe, Japan, Canada and other allies.

At the risk of repeating myself, bragging that the United States is out-performing nations with even-worse economy policy is not exactly persuasive.

Sort of like saying a 10-year old can throw a baseball farther than a 5-year old.

But what is most absurd about the NYT story is the assertion that the United States is enjoying "rapid economic growth."

In reality, the current expansion is relatively weak. Especially compared to the rapid growth the U.S. enjoyed under Reaganomics.

Given the political orientation of the establishment media, I'm not too surprised that journalists are trying to make Biden's economy seem successful.

But putting lipstick on a pig is not likely to yield much success.

P.S. If you want an accurate assessment of the pig's attractiveness, I have an eight-part series on Bidenomics that looks at poverty, subsidies, inflation, protectionism, household income, fiscal policy, red tape, and employment.