The only ones worse off are Putin, Kim, and Xi.

The free hand jobs are over.

"The Biden and Trump economies were both pretty good " but only one president has gotten credit

There's no denying that the economy was good under Trump, and the 2019 pre-pandemic economy is now seen as a baseline against which Biden's economy is being judged.

But Trump arrived in office when the economy was already pretty strong. He was "just riding on the coattails of a 10-year-long economic recovery," said Al R. Bustamante, deputy director of worker power and economic security at Roosevelt Forward, the progressive political arm of the Roosevelt Institute.

The economy continued to grow modestly on his watch until the pandemic hit in 2020, and after that, his stimulus checks kept it buoyant for a while. The stock market saw significant growth under Trump (and at least for the last year, under Biden, too " more on that later).

But some of Trump's signature economic policies have also been found to have had little to no measurable effect on the economy " and a few might have even hurt.

Multiple studies have shown that the Trump tariffs at best had a neutral effect on the economy and at worst cost America hundreds of thousands of jobs and higher prices for consumers.

And his 2017 tax cuts, which increased investment in the economy and contributed to modest wage growth in the short term, fell far short of Republicans' promise that they would pay for themselves and are projected to significantly raise federal debt and increase income inequality.

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Biden, on the other hand, faced the immediate task upon assuming office of heading off a recession as the country started to bounce back from the pandemic. The US did recover from that pandemic economic slump. But there is evidence that his policies, including the stimulus checks he issued, contributed to an inflationary spiral.

The US did, however, manage to curb inflation faster than other economically developed countries, while also maintaining much lower levels of unemployment and higher wage growth.

The Federal Reserve might deserve most of the credit for that, given its carefully timed interest rate hikes. "

con't.

"But Biden also has a very successful legislative record, including the bipartisan infrastructure law and the CHIPS Act " laws that experts say can help bolster the economy.

And he took steps to reduce pandemic-induced pressure on supply chains, making it easier for truck drivers to become licensed and allowing some major ports to operate nonstop.

The US economy is growing faster than projected, driven largely by consumer spending and the Federal Reserve's successful efforts to get inflation under control without triggering a recession.

While inflation has come down substantially from its 9.1 percent peak in June 2022, it still remains above the Fed's target rate, and "ongoing progress toward our 2 percent inflation objective is not assured," Fed chair Jerome Powell told lawmakers in early March. In February, inflation was higher than economists projected, at 3.2 percent, adding to the uncertainty.

But Americans' wages are now growing faster than inflation, which should relieve some of the pressure of higher prices.

The problem for Biden is that the memory of peak inflation is still fresh, and not everyone has experienced wage growth equally. Bustamante said that younger workers and low earners account for the lion's share of wage growth in the current economy.

The president should speak to these challenges, acknowledging that "some people are suffering and things are not exactly where they want it to be" without selling short what's working, Amandi said.

Chart titled "Wages are catching up with inflation" depicting that "inflation hit its highest level since 1980 under Biden before moderating, now outpaced by wage growth."
What is working is Biden's strategy on jobs.

Unemployment reached its lowest level since 1969 under Biden, and the US gained a record 7.27 million new jobs in 2021, fueled by a recovery in the labor market as vaccines became available and the country opened up. Job creation has remained strong in the years since, but slowed to 2.7 million jobs added in 2023."

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