Economy contracts as 'Bidenflation' glides toward 'Bidencession'
You have to feel sympathy for President Joe Biden's defenders. There is only so much they can do.
For the longest time, they made excuses for the record levels of inflation. At first, they claimed that it would be transitory. When that line was no longer plausible, they argued that it was Russian President Vladimir Putin's fault. When this proved unconvincing, they took up a new argument: that in spite of appearances, the economy was actually doing really well — that it was "deceptively strong."
But the numbers have finally caught up with that argument, too. The Bureau of Economic Analysis released new data yesterday showing that the U.S. economy contracted by 1.4% in the first quarter of 2022. Biden inherited an economy rapidly recovering from the COVID recession, and it took him just one year to start another recession. Indeed, it is an ominous sign that Biden's own White House is preemptively admitting that the second quarter will probably also see the economy contract, which would mean that the nation's economy is currently in recession.
To be sure, people generally overestimate presidents' ability to control the economy. But Biden has done some very specific things to cause damage despite multiple warnings.
First of all, the underlying inflation problem is a direct result of his decision to dole out an unnecessary round of trillions in stimulus at the beginning of his presidency, after the pandemic lockdown period was over. Too much (or at least enough) had already been spent at that point. Economists — Obama advisers, even — warned Biden not to do it, specifically arguing that inflation would result. The results were not only predictable — they were predicted. Inflation, which until mid-2021 had not been a problem for any president since the Reagan era, is now destroying ordinary workers' savings and defining Biden's presidency.
That would already be enough to make him deserve whatever blame he gets, but Biden has gone further. He began his presidency with his sights on one of the few industries that has consistently produced high-income jobs for decades — the oil and gas industry, which during the Trump era had turned the United States into an energy-exporting nation for the first time in 70 years. Naturally, Biden opened his presidency with a full-frontal assault on the industry, preventing it from acquiring new leases to drill on federal land. He blocked the construction of a key pipeline that would have created massive additional jobs and wealth and helped keep gas prices down. When gas prices started rising, instead of selling leases and encouraging more U.S. production, he begged other oil-producing countries (many of them with no environmental scruples) to take people's money.
Last week, Biden undid vital Trump-era regulatory reforms that would have made it possible to expand the economy by building infrastructure quickly in the U.S.
Now Biden wants to spend additional trillions, part of that through student debt forgiveness for the nation's wealthiest and most privileged, which would have the effect of making inflation even worse. And to add insult to injury, he and his party want to raise taxes on the very people whose savings are being eroded by his incompetence.
If you think Biden's approval numbers are bad now, just wait until the current recession is announced in three months — or until voters figure out what Biden wants to do to them next.
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