Tag Archive: Inflation Reduction Act

The Biden economy keeps getting stronger

Plenty of this floating around in the economy

With less than 11 months until the 2024 elections, the U.S. economy under the stewardship of President Joe Biden is looking quite strong. Here are some of the latest numbers demonstrating that so-called “Bidenomics” is working:

Economic growth last quarter, as represented by the change in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), was a stunning 5.2 percent.

Inflation continues to tick down, and is now at 3.1 percent. The Federal Reserve says it expects that number to continue to drop to the mid-2 percent range next year, and even lower in 2025, towards the Fed’s dream 2 percent target. The scenario we’re experiencing is the rare “soft landing” that avoids a recession. Moreover, President Biden deserves credit, for example, for getting the Inflation Reduction Act passed through a sharply divided Congress.

–As a result, the Fed this week decided against another interest rate increase, instead stating that it plans three rate cuts in 2024. That is welcome news for any business or individual desiring to borrow money, whether for a home mortgage, a new car, new factory equipment, etc.

–November retail sales figures just came in yesterday, and showed a surprising .3% growth versus an expected .1% decline. Apparently, U.S. consumers felt confident enough about their economic prospects to spend well on Black Friday and into this holiday season.

Who has recognized these strong economic numbers? Certainly, Wall Street, as well as institutional and individual investors, have done so. The U.S. stock market set new record highs this week on the good news and Fed actions.

So what should we do in the face of such good economic news under President Biden? Given that the name of this site is Messaging Matters, you know the answer: spread the word. It’s time to talk up the U.S. economy on your social media, at holiday dinners, in conversations with friends and colleagues, and wherever else you can do so.

Photo by Pictures of Money, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/yz2Jbn

Biden Boom update — the economy continues to gain strength

Lots of this floating around the U.S. economy

Back in December 2021, we published the Biden Boom” story. At the time, we noted how, in less than one year in office, President Joe Biden had already made great strides in the U.S. economy. That included, for example, getting economic growth up and unemployment down from the 2020 Trump Recession caused in large part by Donald Trump‘s failure to act on COVID. At the time, we suggested spreading this good economic news.

Now it’s more than 18 months later, and while Trump is busy begging for donations to defend himself against a growing pile of criminal indictments, President Biden has been busy helping all of us. As a result, the U.S. economy continues to defy the predictions of the doom and gloomers, including many in the mainstream media. This continuing Biden Boom is the great untold story of 2023. For example:

–Unemployment is only 3.6 percent, near the all-time low

–The U.S. has created over 13 million jobs since President Biden took office, which shatters the job creation record for a president’s 4-year term in just two and a half years.

–Inflation, which rose sharply due to the economic rescue steps needed after Trump’s COVID failures, is now down to three percent.

–U.S. Gross Domestic Product (i.e. economic growth) is still going strong at well over 2 percent annually.

–U.S. manufacturing growth has sharply rebounded under President Biden, and according to Axios, “outpaces the rest of the world.”

While all of this good economic news is occurring, a crucial moment took place last Wednesday, when Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated that the Federal Reserve staff no longer forecasts a U.S. recession. This means the U.S. is likely headed for the much sought-after but rare “soft landing” of lowering inflation without causing a recession. Large companies like Caterpillar, reporting very high profits, agree.

The Biden administration should honor Jimmy Carter in its renewable energy efforts

President Jimmy Carter

Last Saturday, The Carter Center released a statement indicating that, after a series of illnesses (including cancer) and hospital stays, 98 year-old former President Jimmy Carter has “decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention.” The announcement has initiated a lot of reflection and remembrances about Carter’s long list of achievements, from saving a Canadian nuclear reactor from meltdown as a young Navy Lieutenant, to getting Israel and Egypt to sign a historic peace agreement as President, to building houses for Habitat For Humanity well into his nineties as a former President.

However, one achievement by President Carter that may get overlooked was his forward-thinking, early dedication to renewable energy. Perhaps most dramatically, Carter had solar panels installed on the White House roof in 1979, well before almost anyone else used such technology. The Carter administration set a goal of delivering 20 percent of U.S. energy from renewable sources by the turn of the century. What happened? In 1986, Ronald Reagan had the White House solar panels taken down and not replaced. And Republicans (along with a few Democrats) have been doing everything they can to stifle renewable energy in favor of fossil fuels ever since. More than 40 years after President Carter set his goals, U.S. renewable energy consumption is only about 12.5 percent of the total (though thankfully it is slowly increasing.)

President Biden to celebrate Inflation Reduction Act in road show

President Joe Biden, about to take his show on the road

Bloomberg News reported yesterday that President Joe Biden will hold a celebration event for the Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”) on September 6 at the White House, followed by a tour across the country to tout the IRA’s benefits. Here is the tweet from Bloomberg White House reporter Jenny Leonard showing the memo from White House Chief of Staff Ronald Klain which outlines the plans for the IRA celebration:

The U.S. Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act on August 7. The U.S. House passed it last Friday. In both cases, the IRA received no Republican votes. Vice President Kamala Harris had to cast the tie-breaking 51st vote for the IRA in the Senate. President Biden is expected to sign the IRA later today.