My fellow Americans –
President Biden is currently on a “Bidenomics” tour. Terrible name, “Bidenomics,” because nobody likes Biden so they’re not going to like anything with his name in it. Call it “Satanomics: The Economy is Stronger Than Hell,” which is a lie but so is everything else he says about the economy.
His economic team recently posted a “Here Are the Facts” video, the first of which is, “Under the Biden Harris Administration Inflation Has Fallen.”
That’s true — if by “Fallen” you mean “Risen.”
The annual inflation rate when Biden took office was 1.4 percent. In May 2023, it was 4 percent, about three times higher.
Inflation is lower today than the 9.1 percent peak that we hit last June, but you don’t get credit for pushing it to unprecedented levels and then watching it come back down, particularly since it only came down as the Federal Reserve was increasing interest rates at a historic pace over the past 15 months — from near zero to more than 5 percent.
The result, along with three of the four largest bank failures in the history of the country, is that buying a home or a car, paying down credit cards or getting a small-business loan are all more expensive under Bidenomics.
Another Bidenomics “fact”: Inflation is less than half what it was last summer.
Also not true. Inflation is slowing, but it’s cumulative. The 4 percent increase this May was on top of last May’s 8.3 percent increase for a two-year increase of nearly 13 percent. You raise prices 8.3 percent, then raise them another 4 percent on top of that.
Since Biden took office, inflation has increased by about 16 percent. And inflation is regressive — the less money you have, the more it hurts.
I can see how Biden jiggled the numbers for the first two claims, but this one I can’t:
“Wages are up, accounting for inflation, that’s real breathing room.”
In January of 2021, when Biden took office, average hourly earnings adjusted for inflation were $11.39. As of May 2023, that number was $11.03. It’s lower.
As George Orwell used to say, “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
