The Washington Post’s Post

In polls, the majority of Americans still say they trust former president Donald Trump’s handling of the economy over Biden’s. Both presidents’ economic records have been defined by the pandemic and its aftershocks. The covid crisis upended the job market, stoked decades-high inflation and added trillions of dollars to the federal debt. Both presidents tout their contributions on the U.S. economy ahead of the 2024 election. But how do their claims stack up? Here are 12 charts showing the state of the economy now vs. under Trump:

For those who care about America and not just their own parties, here's a great article comparing the economies of Donald Trump and Joe Biden: https://lnkd.in/gp-U7s8B Good and bad on both sides, which SHOULD cause you to be more objective in both your choices and your comments: Trump did some things better than Biden, Biden did some things better than Trump. Overall I'd give the benefit to Biden because of the horrible economy at the time Trump handed the country over to Biden. Still, interest rates and cost of living are far higher under Biden, though it is trending in a better direction in the past while. The stock market is far better under Biden, employment far, FAR better under Biden. But, for the sake of argument and to give Trump the benefit of the doubt, let's say it's a dead heat. Now, with the economics a tie, we're free to judge the two men on other matters. Judge away.

Both the media and people in general ascribe far more control of the state of the “economy” to the President than they actually have. This allows both “sides” to cherry-pick the data in their marketing, taking credit for or blaming each other for what was already in motion or was wholly unrelated. When someone tells me they are worried about this (any) President’s economy, my first question to them is “what’s the economy?” The response is usually a blank stare, then some vague statement about how bad everything is. My next question is “okay, how’s YOUR economy?” I know the price of milk is up, but if you are working, on track to reach your long-term goals, and have leisure time to enjoy with friends and family, YOUR economy is doing alright. So don’t buy into the hype! Here’s an easy way to dial back the noise - STOP watching the “news.” If you can’t do that, try this. Whenever I hear the word economy in relation to a politician, I just swap it with the word “sunrise”. This helps me put in perspective, both how much control the president has over “the economy” AND how much impact “the economy” has on MY economy. “The sunrise under Biden has been so much brighter than under Trump.” “This weak sunrise is the worst we’ve ever seen and it’s all because of him.” Biden’s economy vs. Trump’s, in 12 charts

Who's better for the economy: President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump? The past might be a guide. For the first time since Grover Cleveland ran for a nonconsecutive term in 1892, voters have records of how the two leading candidates managed the world’s largest financial system. To help Americans compare each president’s economic report card ahead of Biden and Trump's first head-to-head, my latest for Bankrate looks at data from Trump and Biden’s time in office on a sampling of economic measures, from hiring and unemployment, to stocks, growth, inflation and federal spending. I indexed those gauges to the start of each candidate's inauguration (January 2017 for Trump and January 2021 for Biden). Then, I took data over an equal timeframe. Since we only have data going up to May 2024 for Biden's term, I stopped my analysis in May 2020 for Trump's term. The findings: 📈 On inflation: Prices rose four times faster during Biden's term than Trump's. 📊 On the job market: The U.S. economy has created 15.6 million jobs. That compares with job losses totaling 12.6 million for Trump. 💵 Wages have boomed faster under Biden but lost more ground to inflation than they did under Trump. 💰 The S&P 500 stock index has risen 42.1% since Biden took office, compared with a 33.6% increase over the same time period for Trump Both presidents' economic outcomes greatly depend on who was in the White House during the economy’s plunge (Trump) and red-hot bounce back (Biden). “In a world where finger-pointing has become a contact sport, the quick answer is that virtually every stakeholder in the economy is responsible, to some degree, for inflation," as Mark Hamrick told me. Meanwhile, the economy was simply adding back the jobs that it lost to the pandemic for the first year and a half of Biden's presidency, helping Biden's score in the category. But even so, hiring boomed faster than its historic average and unemployment fell to even lower levels under the current chief executive. My question: Should presidents take the credit (or blame) for their economies, when it's often driven by broader, macro-level forces (cough: Federal Reserve)? Let me know what you think, and read our analysis:

The latest on the economy Numbers. 27%. The percentage of registered voters who say the economy and jobs are the most important issues facing the U.S., according to a July 2024 Harvard CAPS/Harris poll.  61%. Most registered voters say the U.S. economy is on the wrong track. 46%. The percentage of U.S. adults who trust former President Donald Trump more than Vice President Kamala Harris on economic issues, according to an August 2024 poll from ABC News/Ipsos.  38%. The percentage of U.S. adults who trust Harris more than Trump on the economy. 0.4%. The increase in the unemployment rate between August 2023 and August 2024. 800,000. The approximate increase in the number of unemployed people between August 2023 and August 2024. 35%. The top-bracket capital gains tax rate for individuals between 1972 and 1977 (and in 1979), was the highest rate in U.S. history. 28%. The top-bracket capital gains tax rate for individuals proposed by Vice President Harris (up from the current maximum rate of 20%).  $5.8 trillion. The estimated amount that former President Trump’s tax and spending proposals would add to the U.S. deficit over ten years, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model. $1.2 trillion. The estimated amount that Vice President Kamala Harris’s tax and spending proposals would add to the U.S. deficit over ten years. 

Still questioning the unemployment numbers. From the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployed means: - They were not employed during the survey reference week. - They were available for work during the survey reference week, except for temporary illness. - They made at least one specific, active effort to find a job during the 4-week period ending with the survey reference week (see active job search methods) OR they were temporarily laid off and expecting to be recalled to their job. - People waiting to start a new job must have actively looked for a job within the last 4 weeks in order to be classified as unemployed. Otherwise, they are classified as not in the labor force. Using these numbers, the result should be higher. IDK who these 60,000 households are in the US they survey monthly, but it seems there could be a better way to get results than surveying less than 4% of the labor force once a month (using census data from 2023 stating there are . https://lnkd.in/eDf_B9n5 (Bureau of Labor and Statistics)

The US economy is in better condition than that of any other country's economy. Most people in America are far better off today than 4, 5, or 6 years ago. The Previous administration's unpaid-for permanent tax-giveaways to Corporate America and all time record spending to the tune of $7.9 Trillion added to National Debt, contributed greatly to inflation paired with supply chain problems. Corporate Greed in the form of price gouging, added even more to the inflation cycle. All that are facts that are well documented by multiple non-partisan independent and government agencies.

"Economists are still debating why the Fed’s higher rates didn’t translate into job losses, but the important point is that millions of people were not, in fact, fired. Moreover, millions of people did not need to be fired in order to fix inflation. As Mike Konczal concluded in a report for the Roosevelt Institute in September 2023, the vast majority of inflation during the Biden years was driven by pandemic-related supply problems. Whatever was going wrong in 2022, it wasn’t because you were too rich." The Fed's strategy of raising interest rates would have been appropriate for demand-pull inflation to tamp down an overheated economy. As pointed out here, that was an incorrect diagnosis of the type of inflation at work. It was cost-push inflation driven by supply constraints pushing up prices, not the demand-pull variety. https://lnkd.in/eNQU-82q #economy #inflation

The U.S. economy added 353,000 jobs in January, well above expectations and further indication that the market remains robust despite fears of a recession. Unemployment remained unchanged at 3.7%. The biggest gains were in professional and business services, health care, retail trade, and social assistance, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Average hourly earnings rose by 19 cents during the month. The increase has been 4.5% over the past 12 months. Pundits on tbe wrong side of history continue to describe the US economy as weak or not strong. Clearly, that is a false narrative. Consumers across socioeconomic lines are largely better off financially now than 4 years ago despite high inflation. Wages and employment are stronger now than 4 years ago. The National Debt has been relatively been controlled as well as government spending. in 2017-2020 the previous admistratiob added $7.9 trillion to the National Debt with huge unpaid for tax benefits given to corporate America and the highest income earners in America. All fiscally irresponsible moves that led to an unprecedented rise in the National Debt. Corporate America used its Treasure Chest to invest in its own stock share buybacks and more automation, not in hiring more on-the-line employees. That practice based upon permanent corporate tax cuts (ordinary citizens tax cuts from 2017 tax reform bill not permanent), continues to yield all-time high corporate profits and more stock buyback activity.