The Patriot Post® · Does This Economy Feel 'Strong as Hell'?
“The economy is strong as hell,” Joe Biden declared as he chewed and swallowed a bite of another ice cream cone. We can hardly fault him for the bizarre comment; ice cream can sometimes give you a brain freeze.
“I’m not concerned about the strength of the dollar; I’m concerned about the rest of the world. Does that make sense?” he said in answer to a reporter’s question. “Inflation is worldwide, worse off everywhere else than it is in the United States,” he added. “So the problem is the lack of economic growth and sound policy in other countries, not so much ours.”
Inflation is indeed high around the world, but it’s false to say it’s “worse off everywhere else.” While the eurozone is enduring double-digit inflation, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Israel are among the numerous examples of countries with inflation rates lower than America’s 8.2%. Joe just can’t quit lying.
In any case, who are you gonna believe — Biden’s ice cream proclamation or your lyin’ eyes?
That “strong as hell” economy of ours has cost us all dearly. “We’ve now had seven straight months of 8%+ inflation,” write Heritage Foundation economists Stephen Moore and E.J. Antoni. (And, by the way, last month’s rate was 8.2% over last September, which was already at 5.4% over the previous year.) “We have calculated that over the past 20 months, this rise in consumer prices over wages means that the average family in America has lost nearly $6,000 in purchasing power.”
That’s causing people to burn through their savings. “Since President Biden took office,” Moore and Antoni add, “monthly savings have collapsed, falling 83%.” Biden loves to crow about building the economy from the bottom up and that inflation is just “a high-class problem.” The reality is just the opposite because he’s hollowing out the middle class.
The Dow Jones is down more than 4% since Biden’s inauguration, while the S&P 500 is down more than 5% — and virtually all of the loss came in 2022. According to Moore and Antoni: “Tie it all together and we calculate that since the start of this year, 401(k) plans have suffered $2.1 trillion in losses. The average 401(k) plan had over $135,000 at the start of this year. Today, those assets have shrunk on average to about $101,000. In other words, the average 401(k) plan is down about $34,000 — more than 25% in less than one year!”
Overall, the U.S. economy has contracted for two straight quarters, which used to be the generally accepted definition of a recession until the Leftmedia decided that Democrats can’t cause recessions in an election year. The third-quarter GDP report will hit soon — just in time for November’s election. If it somehow reveals tepid growth, it will be in spite of the efforts of the Democrat-controlled Federal Reserve to slow economic growth with interest rate increases on steroids.
In the next two weeks, voters will get a sour reminder of inflation when they buy Halloween candy, which rose by a record 13.1% last month. Sugar and sweets overall increased by 14.4%, and snacks are up 14.7%.
So if you really want to scare your neighbors, dress up like Joe Biden with an ice cream cone.
Joe Biden is the Inflation King.
— Stephen Moore (@StephenMoore) October 17, 2022
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