President Biden has been attempting to claim credit for our recovering economy over the past year, but polling shows the American people are unimpressed. According to the Real Clear Politics average of polls, 57% of Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of the economy while only 38% approve. So, does Biden deserve more credit? A realistic look at the numbers clearly shows that he does not.
Let’s consider Biden’s most recent claims with respect to the growth in gross domestic product (GDP) and jobs in 2021. Biden often blames bad economic news on the pandemic but is quick to take credit for good economic news. So, it’s fair to ask whether 2021’s positive GDP and jobs numbers are due to Biden’s economic policies or the economy rebounding from an economically disastrous pandemic?
GDP was up 5.7% in 2021, the biggest increase since 1984. That’s great news! Biden claims it’s because “[t]he Biden economic plan is working, folks.” But does the growth in GDP really show that his plan is working?
But, if you consider people “returning” to their pre-pandemic jobs as “creating” jobs, it is true that the economy “created” a record number of jobs in 2021. However, crediting Biden’s policies for those jobs simply doesn’t meet the smell test. Clearly, we are looking at a natural rebound from historic job losses in 2020 led by Republican governors who have reopened their states’ economies. When blue states finally follow suit, maybe we can recover the remaining 30%.
With vaccines, natural immunity and states reopening their economies, GDP was going to increase and jobs were coming back in 2021 no matter what. As for Biden’s economic policies, the recovery would be stronger, inflation would be less and this horrific period would end sooner if Biden had done nothing – or were Donald Trump still president.
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Andy Puzder was chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants for more than 16 years, following a career as an attorney. He is currently a senior fellow at both the America First Policy Institute and the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy and a distinguished fellow at the Heritage Foundation. His next book, “A Tyranny for the Good of its Victims – The Ugly Truth About Stakeholder Capitalism” will come out early next year.
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