CHICAGO ― President Joe Biden sought Wednesday to tamp down worries over the economy, touting its post-pandemic performance and saying the White House was trying to make it fairer for everyone.
“Today, the U.S. has had the highest economic growth rate, leading the leading the world economies since the pandemic, the highest in the world,” Biden said in a speech in Chicago.
“And folks, that’s no accident. That’s Bidenomics in action.”
While he spoke at the ornately restored Old Post Office on a podium festooned with blue-and-white “Bidenomics” signs, the president joked he had not come up with the name and that it had been coined by the financial press.
“I didn’t come up with the name. I really didn’t. I now claim it, but they’re the ones that used it first,” he said.
The U.S. economy has by many measures put on an impressive display rebounding from the COVID-19 lockdowns, supply chain chaos and fitful attempts to return to normalcy.
Unemployment has remained below 4% for the longest time in more than 50 years, according to the White House, and the economy has expanded for three straight quarters after dipping for two straight in 2022.
But inflation has remained a big worry for consumers, and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate-raising campaign has led many to expect a recession at some point.
Biden sought to assuage those concerns.
“Bringing down inflation remains one of my top priorities. Today, inflation is less than half of what it was a year ago,” he said.
He pointed out steps the administration had taken to stem price growth by encouraging competition, like proposing a ban on noncompete agreements and passing a law allowing Medicare to negotiate the prices of drugs it buys.
“This time we finally beat Big Pharma, for the first time,” he said.
“Bringing down inflation remains one of my top priorities. Today, inflation is less than half of what it was a year ago.”
– President Joe Biden
Biden also said the administration was trying to build the economy “from the middle out and the bottom up,” in contrast, he said, with Republican policies favoring the wealthy.
Polls have shown voters continue to worry about the state of the economy. An April survey for financial services giant Nationwide found only 16% of respondents had a positive view of the overall economy, down from 24% in September.
And a Harris Poll in mid-June found 63% of respondents said the economy was on the wrong track and 52% said they disapproved of Biden’s handling of the economy.
Biden acknowledged work remains to be done.
“I’m not here to declare victory on the economy. I’m here to say we have a plan that is turning things around incredibly quickly,” he said.
S.V. Date contributed reporting.
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