The Biden Economy Hasn’t Been Good for Everyone
Pundits are still scratching their heads about why voters don’t love the state of the US economy. But many workers are in worse straits than they were a few years ago, particularly because Democrats let the COVID welfare provisions expire.
A person walks past a homeless encampment near a Target store on September 28, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Mario Tama / Getty Images)
As we gear up for the next presidential election, various pundits are puzzling over how people can be dissatisfied with the Joe Biden economy. Some of this puzzling, such as that focused on what survey responders actually mean when they answer generic questions about the economy, is fair enough. Personally, I think these surveys are not very insightful, because so many respondents clearly use them as proxy questions about whether they like the president or not.
However, other puzzling on this question, such as that which accuses the Left of being deliberately unfair and ridiculous in its assessment of the economy, is misguided and based in part on people talking past one another on this issue.
There are at least two different ways to talk about whether an economy is good or bad, and thus whether and to what extent it has gotten better.
This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.