The Patriot Post® · Biden's Economy Stumbles
“G.D.P. Report Shows the U.S. Economy Shrank, Masking a Broader Recovery” — that’s how the Democrat propagandists at The New York Times spun the shocking-but-not-so-shocking news that U.S. gross domestic product actually fell at a 1.4% annualized rate in the first quarter. The “experts” expected a gain of 1%. Oops!
“The decline was mostly a result of the two most volatile components of the quarterly reports: inventories and international trade,” says the Times, which almost humorously adds, “Lower government spending was also a drag on growth.”
Technically speaking, if the government purchased X number of goods in 2021 and reduced that so far in 2022, that would be a drag on growth. But from a macro standpoint, the truth is the exact opposite of the Times’s claim. Rampant and uncontrolled government spending is why inflation took off in 2021, primarily because income redistribution in the form of “stimulus” payments goosed demand without boosting supply. Ultimately, government spending is why GDP fell, and even more government spending wouldn’t have stopped it from falling.
But the Times is hardly alone in explaining away Joe Biden’s dismal record, all while pretending to be mystified that Americans just don’t see his supposedly excellent economic stewardship, not to mention “the modern Democratic Party’s preference for technocratically elegant and often invisible policies.”
Whew! These NY Times comedy sketches really get us laughing!
Other recent media headlines include:
“Our economy is doing well — but many Americans refuse to believe it.”
“The economy is strong but voters aren’t feeling it. That’s a problem for Biden.”
“5 Reasons Voters Underrate the Biden Economy.”
“Biden gets little credit for COVID recovery.”
We hate to play the role of Debbie Downer, but GDP contracted 1.4% in the first quarter. There’s no room for blaming Americans (well, except those 81 million Biden voters). There’s no room for blaming Donald Trump, either. Biden’s been at the helm since January 2021, and the first quarter covers months 13-15 of his only term. To whatever degree presidents actually are responsible for economic numbers, the first-quarter slump is on Biden.
The simple reality is that the economy is perhaps stronger than the GDP dip indicates, but it’s also not nearly as strong as it should be. Unemployment is historically low and wages are up, which are both positives, but inflation is stealing all those wage gains and then some. Inflation is driven largely by Biden’s American Rescue Plan, which the media told us last year was “set to turbocharge the U.S. economy.” Turbocharge inflation is more like it. High gas prices aren’t driven by Biden’s spending but by his restrictive energy policies.
Last year, GDP grew by 5.7% — the fastest since Ronald Reagan’s “Morning in America” in 1984 — including 6.9% in the fourth quarter. But that growth was largely spurred by recovering from a crushing year in 2020 thanks to pandemic shutdowns. Particularly in the latter half of the year, it was driven by inventory restocking. According to CNBC, “An inventory rebuild from the depleted pandemic levels accounted for almost all the growth in the final two quarters of the year.”
All things considered, a “V”-shaped recovery last year was predictable and expected. Now that Biden’s policies have had a year in place, however, voters can perfectly well see the results.
Update: Biden says he’s “not concerned” about recession and blamed “technical factors” for the GDP drop, though he never actually said anything about GDP other than mentioning “last quarter’s growth estimate.” Yeah, um, that’s “growth estimate” was a contraction, and it’s largely on Biden.