Last week, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry took to social media criticizing "Bidenomics" for causing soaring inflation due to reckless spending and excessive regulation. The administration defends its approach, highlighting job creation, reduced inflation and responsible deficit reduction, but public opinion remains divided.
"Americans are suffering under soaring inflation, paying more on everything from gas to groceries, thanks to reckless spending and excessive regulation from the Biden Administration. "Bidenomics" is a failure," McHenry said in a July 5 Twitter Post.
According to an AP News report issued on July 5, the term "Bidenomics" appears to have originated from campaign propaganda and was not poll-tested, although the source of this information remains anonymous.
Despite the criticisms, President Biden has embraced the term and used it repeatedly in a speech on June 28, 2023, where he proudly claimed the phrase as his own.
In a White House briefing released on the same day, titled "Bidenomics Is Working: The President's Plan Grows the Economy from the Middle Out and Bottom Up—Not the Top Down," the administration defends its economic approach. The brief highlights the addition of over 13 million jobs, including nearly 800,000 manufacturing jobs, and a manufacturing and clean energy boom. It also notes that there were more than 10 million applications for new small businesses, a two-year record. The administration claims that America has experienced the strongest economic growth since the pandemic among leading economies, and inflation has fallen for 11 consecutive months by more than half. Additionally, the brief emphasizes that the deficit has been reduced responsibly.
The three pillars of "Bidenomics", as outlined in the brief, include making smart public investments in America, empowering and educating workers to grow the middle class, and promoting competition to lower costs and support entrepreneurs and small businesses.
The administration's focus has been on rebuilding infrastructure, investing in key industries such as semiconductor production and clean energy, and encouraging private investment in 21st-century sectors.
The brief also highlights record low unemployment rates for various groups, including African Americans, Hispanic Americans, people with disabilities and women. The administration has made investments in registered apprenticeships, career technical education programs, free universal pre-K, and free community college to empower and educate workers. President Biden has expressed support for facilitating easier unionization and has taken steps to address the decline in union membership. The administration has also implemented initiatives to promote competition, such as lowering prescription drug costs, ending hidden fees and cracking down on noncompete agreements.
The White House briefing concluded by reiterating that Biden has presided over a deficit reduction of $1.7 trillion during his first two years, the largest reduction under any President in American history.
A recent poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research paints a contrasting picture of public opinion regarding Biden's handling of the economy. The findings show that only 33% of respondents approve of President Biden's economic performance. Additionally, a significant 76% of participants describe the national economy as poor. The poll further reveals that only 21% of adults believe that the country is moving in the right direction, with 36% of Democrats and a mere 7% of Republicans expressing optimism. Concerning the state of the economy, 24% of the public believes it to be in good shape, while a substantial 76% view it as being in poor condition.