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Wages and Buying Power – Trump vs Biden

Wages and Buying Power – Trump vs Biden

Base on the chart, it is very clear, buying power under Trump were rising.  Buying power under Joe biden is going down substantially because of inflation.  It is very clear why.

Inflation. If you have been reading about wages over the past six months you know that the labor is scrambling for better wages.  Since so many people have been paid to sit at home from Covid funds, people who are willing to work are quitting their jobs and stepping into better jobs.  And America has set new records in people quitting their jobs since about July.

Never mind that many are rising to their level of incompetence (such remark  based on my perception of the service quality my local drive-through restaurants…)  The average wages are going up. When more people start to go back to work, as you can see in the clear anomaly in April 2021, the growth in wages will fall.

Inflation is a bitch. Sources estimate multiple trillions of dollars have been spent on Covid, all of which were deficit spending.  The Fed has expanded the money supply by about $4 Trillion.  People were getting free money and trying to buy goods and services, but the people who provide those goods and services  have not had enough employees to produce them. So prices go up.

The Biden Administration was provided with all of the tools to make a strong push against Covid, and to prevent inflation:

– He had three different vaccines, but he failed to convince Americans to take it.

– He had data from 50 states on how they were doing with various responses on Covid. He could have encouraged people to get back to work, as Trump did.  He could have slowed down the outflow of money, he could have encouraged the relaxing of rules.

– He could have maintained Trump’s accomplishment of energy independence. He did not, and gas prices have shot through the roof.

– Biden could have focused his administration on inflation much earlier. Every indicator said it would happen. Unfortunately, the media played down inflation and now we are stuck with it.

I’m not saying Trump was perfect. He allowed the spending of huge amounts of money. I’m not sure he had a choice, and America seemed to be behind him.

Biden on the other hand, had a lot of choices and made bad ones.

Inflation will destroy a  lot over the next THREE of years. Buying power in savings accounts COULD easily will fall by 25%.  

I’m sure the Democrats will bring this up in the elections of 2022 and 2024. They will tout the rises in wages under the Biden Administration. They will leave out the net loss in buying power due to inflation. They believe nobody really understands any way.  Are they right?

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17 Comments

  1. Harold blankenship

    Look back at the success of Trump and look at the failures of the Biden regime. Any questions?

  2. Frank stetson

    Harold, I think if you check the numbers and the statistics you’ll find that trumps economic record is pretty bad. I think when you say the worst GDP growth factor since he Herbert Hoover, you’ve said a lot. That’s Trump. When you say largest deficit and debt ever, you’ve said a lot. That’s Trump. And there’s much more to be said that is not positive.

    Joe, could you source the chart? Whenever I see a chart without a source, I immediately question it on general principles. Secondly, I’m sure you know that wages are not the only factor In the calculation to buying power although I am sure they play a significant role.

    Third, I agree that inflation is really a bad thing and that the inflation we’re seeing now is really bad inflation. However, to lay it all on Biden‘s lap for his first 12 months in office leaving out the 48 months that Trump fucked this up seems silly.

    You blame Biden for printing all this free money, letting people escape work, yada yada yada. Fact is, Trump stimulus was 2.9 trillion in two different packages, the last of which was December before Biden took office, a literal financial landmine. That’s another trillion of free money and people staying home from work above anything by never offered.

    Biden stimulus is 1.9 trillion, so who printed more money? That doesn’t even count all the money Trump injected into the system via tax cuts. One could say that’s not printing money, but it sure is spending money for consumers that can fuel inflation.

    And, of course, you leave out any pandemic inflation factors such as product runs, supply chain issues due to the pandemic, etc. Most of those occurred on trumps watch even if they took a factor in Bidens watch. Certainly have a minimum I shared responsibility.

    I think a good discussion on inflation would be valuable. Inflation is a dangerous thing. But your discussion is partisan and concludes that all of our problems began 12 months ago. That is just bullshit.

    For example, consumers right now have 2 trillion in savings waiting to be spent; not sure how Biden does that when the stimulus was only 1.9 million. Or shit, and you leave it out completely, would be bank reserves, a cool 4 trillion that is sitting on the sidelines waiting to enter the money supply. You really missed it considering before Obama that number was zero. Wanna guess how he got around inflation?

    So when you want to enter a fair and balanced discussion of inflation, I think that would be great. But this article is far from there.

    One last note, you know that whenever you buy fast food that up to 50% of the employees are dealing with our working poor, get a socialist from the government, so basically the low price you paid for your fast food has been subsidized by the taxpayer. Guess that makes your welfare baby! 🙁

    • Frank stetson

      Sorry, beyond all the other typos, that was 1.9 trillion, not million

    • Charles maddox

      I don’t know about all of that spin and jargon. I just know that we didn’t have nearly as much inflation until Biden. And believe me. Putin wouldn’t be trying to be the big dog in the yard if we still had trump. And you need to check out the breaking news about Hillary paying to have Trump’s server hacked even while he was president. And he was president. Not just a babbling moron like slow joe. A little off subject. Just saying. Lock her up!!!!!!

      • Frank stetson

        Charles, if you don’t know about all that jargon, then how do you know it’s spin?

        If you would like to know more about any of the jargon, just ask a question. I would love to clarify via a nice discussion.

    • Joe Gilbertson

      Frank, you would be more effective in your comments if you would slow down and make sure you statistics were actually coherent. Nothing here makes any sense.

      • Frank stetson

        Can’t source that chart?

        Based on your analysis, I could see where you would come away with that need for clarification . Let me make it easy.

        Trump had larger stimulus packages, two of them. Biden’s single package was smaller. Your position is that those packages were printing money. Therefore, Trump printed more money.

        Plus, Trump created a giant pool of money with his tax cuts. While I indicated that was not necessarily new money, it was indeed a lot of extra money that consumers could spend fueling inflation

        I believe that was the crux of the biscuit.

        About fast food prices being supported by taxpayer dollars vis-à-vis snap payments to the working poor having full-time jobs at these facilities, is a little more complex and a bit of a red herring to the topic you were discussing. But I figured if you were going to drop your anecdote, I will put in my two cents vis-à-vis how your fast food is basically a taxpayer supported product.

        I would think you would understand a smaller package. Ba dum bump ;-). Hope that clarifies, let me know if you have any other actual questions rather than generalized feelings.

  3. Ben

    Record Profits! Highest profit margins since 1950! Corporation after corporation is bragging about their profits, yet they keep raising prices on the consumer.
    When do you stop blaming Presidential policies and start blaming corporate greed ?

    • Perry

      Corporate greed? So it’s wrong to make a profit. Interesting. All of this inflation is the fault of Biden

      • Frank stetson

        Perry, I agree with you on corporate greed. Being an ex-corporate guy, I am pretty sure the rules say greed is good. I once made a product for $17 and charged $1000 and never thought twice about it. Except to say I wonder if I can do better. But in all honesty, it was a win-win for the company and the consumer in what I did. Still felt extremely greedy. And that was good 😉

        As far as this being Biden‘s fault, he certainly has a hand in it but to say it is his fault alone is probably wrong. Trump had larger free money giveaways and four freaking years to set this up. Biden had one giveaway and one year where it actually happened. I am pretty sure that most of the Biden money isn’t even spent yet. Mostly because a lot of the Trump money hasn’t even been spent yet. .

        That was one problem. Many people did not spend a large share of the trump stimulus. The sad part is Biden knew this and he did not target the stimulus to people who would definitely spend it and away from those who would save it. In trumps defense, there was no real way for him to know people would save the money until it happened It just happened. But Biden knew better. Still doesn’t mean inflation is solely his problem.

      • Ben

        What’s wrong with corporate greed? You can’t have it both ways, corporate greed AND retain employees. As we see in a daily basis, when corporations put profit over people, people walk to another job that doesn’t.
        For the first time in my life, I see power slowly returning to the workers that make corporations money. Increase pay, increase benefits and your workers will not keep ghosting you. Consumers will increase patronage, more money in workers pockets means more money in our economy.

        • Frank stetson

          Ben, of course you can have corporate greed and retain employees. Heck, you can have corporate greed and even get better employees. We call that Wall Street :-).

          Given the times, and the inflation, I don’t find it mysterious at all that people are job shopping with great abandon. Number one, there are plenty of job openings. Number two, many of these jobs are offering better salaries than you have, and even better salaries than they used to offer. It’s a great time to be looking for a job, even if you have a good one.

    • Joe Gilbertson

      Yes, corporate greed has mismanaged our national debt for the last 20 years.

      • Frank stetson

        Say what?

        • Joe Gilbertson

          The inflation is because of our national debt, corporate greed has nothing to do with that. And I do appreciate corporate greed when I am invested in their stock. After all there is no other reason for them to exist.

      • Ben

        Joe,
        Well thank goodness Biden is President.

        The U.S. government posted a $119 billion budget surplus in January, the first in more than two years, amid strong growth in tax receipts and a sharp drop in pandemic-related outlays, the Treasury Department said on Thursday.

        Also, you mention greed has mismanaged our national debt for the last 20 years? Republicans have controlled the government for 11 of those 20 years… maybe it’s time you stop voting for them?

        • Clifford mckinney

          Yes Thank goodness for a weak pussy in the White House. He has done nothing And lies and bullshit will bring the red wave next fall.