In his recent speech on the economy, President Biden painted a very rosy picture. However, it was a little like bragging about the increase in generator sales after a hurricane.
Biden made three points – over and over again. The job numbers are up. Average wages are up. Unemployment is down. If that is all that needs to be considered, the economy is doing quite well. But it is how Biden spun his good news political gospel and what he did not address.
Yes, the job number increased last period, but after the crash of the economy in March of 2020, the numbers are bound to increase every month. What Biden skipped over is that the 194,000 jobs created in September were below expectations – and the second lowest increase since 2014.
Virtually every economist – left and right – viewed the numbers as BAD news. They note that there are still 5 million fewer jobs than existed before the Pandemic.
Yes, average wages have increased about 4 percent. What Biden did not report to the nation is that the reason is the worker shortage that is crippling the economy AND that the current inflation surge has more than wiped out the wage increase. If you are not among those getting those increases, your purchasing power is declining.
In addition, shortages due to supply-chain disruptions are driving up prices – and making some products unavailable. Fewer goods being chased by more dollars, and that means higher prices … inflation. This is one of the reasons why Biden’s plan to put more money into the economy is so dangerous. Inflation is a serious economic crisis that Biden did not even reference.
Biden again spins when he notes that the unemployment rate is down. It is. But there is much more to the story. One reason it is down is because a lot of people have stopped looking for a job. Many pre-Pandemic workers will be permanently out of the workforce. Workers near retirement age who were laid off are taking their retirement benefits early and staying home.
There is a lot of talk about getting women back to work. That is the reason why Biden pushes maternity leave and daycare subsidy programs. But like the seniors – and many of the women workers are seniors — there is a segment of the female population that has stopped seeking full-time employment. They have adjusted economically to being at home with the kids. This is obviously truer with two-income families.
Then there is the “i” word … inflation. Again, every economist – including the Federal Reserve Bank – agrees that we are in an inflationary state. The only disagreement is whether it is a temporary condition caused by the return of the economy to a more stable state – or is a long-term problem precipitated by excessive government spending.
Gasoline is one of the bellwether indicators because it impacts on almost every other sector in the economy. The average gas price has increased from $2.18 to $3.19 per gallon in the past year. That is an astounding 46 percent increase. Pump prices have not been that high since 2014.
There are two anomalies that are negatively impacting the economy. We have a shortage of workers and the disruption of the supply-chain. And they are somewhat interrelated – not enough workers to move the products from source to store.
There are scores of loaded container ships in anchorage off the American coast. Others are slowing their passage. And yet others are being held back in their ports of departure. There is a shortage of truck drivers to move the containers out of the ports.
The lack of workers and flooding the country with dollars has not increased sales or grown the economy. It has mostly increased the cost of those few items that can make it to the local retail shelves.
Apparently, Biden is not achieving his objective of fooling the American people. The most recent CNN survey has 69 percent of the people saying that the economy is in poor shape and only 27 percent saying that the economy is in good shape. And that buck stops squarely on Biden’s desk.
The economic trends are making it more difficult to justify big government spending at this time. And the many problems that are currently affecting the economy are not likely to improve in the coming years.
That is why Democrats – with the help of their compliant media – are working overtime to make the 2022 midterm election about Donald Trump – demonizing him and, by extension, every Republican on the 2022 ballot – from Congress to the local school boards.
It is their primary issue because they are losing on every other issue – the border, Afghanistan, the Pandemic and now the economy.
Sorry, Mr. President. There are not enough rose-colored glasses for all the voters.
So. There ‘tis.