One of the things the Joe Biden administration likes to tout is the supposed success of the president’s eponymous economic policy, “Bidenomics”. Media releases from the government are replete with references to an easing of inflation, lower gas prices, lower unemployment.
But the thing is, American’s just aren’t buying any of it.
Good stats on paper is one thing, but the bottom line is that regular, hard-working Americans don’t really feel any of the benefits Bidenomics is purporting to have given.
A recent survey by Harris for the Guardian news outlet shows across the board dissatisfaction with Bidenomics and the state of the economy in general.
Republicans are obviously more pessimistic about it than Democrats but the general sentiment IS that Bidenomics just doesn’t seem to be working. Roughly two thirds of the survey’s respondents or 68% say that they still feel financially challenged every month, with sentiment among Democrats and Republicans more or less the same, with 68% and 69%, respectively. The percentage of Americans who believe that the economy is actually worse than what the government and media claim is slightly smaller but still significant – 65%.
In terms of unemployment, government stats put the unemployment rate at 3.8%, but 51% of Americans feel that unemployment is almost the highest it has been in the last 50 years.
The poll points to a general mistrust of information the government and the media puts out, with 82% or Republicans, 49% of Democrats, and 66% of Independents feel that the media takes a too positive approach in its reporting on the state of the economy.
Another poll, this time by Suffolk University Sawyer Business School and USA TODAY, show that more than half of Americans, or 59%, don’t agree with the way Biden is running the economy, and only 34% say that Bidenomics seems to be working.
On paper, the U.S. has reportedly bounced back from the pandemic stronger than others, but many Americans have still been left behind. In 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the child poverty rate doubled in the span of just a year – from 5.2% in 2021 to 12.4% in 2022. Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act is touted to have sparked a flame in manufacturing (although others have expressed skepticism about it) – something the government is very proud of – but the major organization of auto worker unions in the United States point to the same initiative as means through which major automakers have lined their pockets, and along with the government’s strong push for electric vehicles, threaten to wipe out their livelihoods. They have since gone on strike.
What’s more data from the U.S. Department of Commerce shows that geographic income inequality jumped by more than 40% between 1980 and 2021, with largely rural, blue-collar, and working-class areas left behind in favor of more urban, tech-oriented cities and the export of factory jobs to operations outside of the U.S.
The challenge for Biden, especially as he heads toward a re-election effort next year is to translate his economic policies’ accomplishments on paper to actual benefits normal Americans can feel – and appreciate.
Tim Ramos has written for various publications, corporations, and organizations – covering everything from finance, politics, travel, entertainment, and sports – in Asia and the U.S. for more than 10 years.
