The address before the AFL-CIO convention in Philadelphia was the President’s effort to reset the terms of the debate on the economy as his own approval ratings have slid.
“Since I took office, with your help, families are carrying less debt nationwide. They have more savings nationwide,” Biden stated.
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Despite the President’s pronouncements, data from the Federal Reserve reveals that household debt has increased by more than $1.5trillion since Biden took office in January 2021.
The nation’s credit card debt is also at record highs after jumping almost 20% during April to $1.103 trillion. The previous pre-pandemic record was $1.1 trillion.
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According to a poll from wealth management company Northwestern Mutual, Americans’ savings accounts have shrunk by over $9,000 over the past year - from $73,100 in 2021 to $62,086 in 2022.
The nation’s current economic outlook is largely because of inflation, which is at a more than 40-year high. This has caused voters to sour on the economy, despite a mixed recovery after 2020’s pandemic-induced downturn that has led to robust hiring and a healthy 3.6 percent unemployment rate.
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The President attempted to remind his audience of the food lines and layoffs throughout the Coronavirus pandemic that preceded his presidency, contrasting that with the improvements in household balance sheets under his watch.
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He took aim at widespread "lies about reckless spending” - an apparent reference to the many criticizers of his COVID stimulus package, which most experts think at least partially fueled increased inflation.
Even some Democrats who align with Biden politically have proposed that government spending has been a problem for middle-class families.
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Economist and former Obama administration official Larry Summers predicted as much back in February 2021.
“There is a chance that macroeconomic stimulus on a scale closer to World War II levels than normal recession levels will set off inflationary pressures of a kind we have not seen in a generation, with consequences for the value of the dollar and financial stability,” he wrote in an op-ed for the Washington Post.
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“This will be manageable if monetary and fiscal policy can be rapidly adjusted to address the problem. But given the commitments the Fed has made, administration officials’ dismissal of even the possibility of inflation, and the difficulties in mobilizing congressional support for tax increases or spending cuts, there is the risk of inflation expectations rising sharply.”
Economist Ellen Gaske of PGIM Fixed Income announced that this was exactly the Biden Administration's mistake.