The Scorecard
I’ll make a prediction right now that might not seem bold or visionary:
Whenever Donald Trump’s economic strategies start to go sideways, he will immediately blame Biden/Harris.
So, let’s get ahead of his lies by creating a snapshot of the current state of the economy as we enter the Trump2 era. This will offer a before-and-after accounting based on FACTS and DATA, not the Trumpian version of a Greek chorus.
According to El País, the leading Spanish daily newspaper, “Biden leaves Trump a booming economy, with almost no unemployment and inflation under control.”
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 5.8% during Trump’s first presidency and by 15.5% during the Biden presidency.
Biden has lowered the inflation rate to 2.1% as of the October report. The Federal Reserve’s ideal target has been 2%. The Fed has characterized the current state of the U.S. economy as achieving a “soft landing,” meaning the economy is not expected to slip into a recession.
As a result, the Fed has lowered the prime rate by three-quarters of a percentage point over the past two months.
Wages have increased in recent months at a rate greater than the inflation rate. Consequently, real disposable income—adjusted for inflation—has increased by 10%.
The economy added 14.8 million jobs during the first three years of Biden’s presidency, more than any president in U.S. history over the same period. Moreover, unemployment has remained below 4% for the longest stretch since the 1960s.
The economy has added another 900,000 jobs in 2024. That figure is now 6.3 million higher than before the pandemic near the end of Trump’s first term.
America’s cost of living, which surged to a four-decade high during Biden’s first two years, is poised to return to its pre-pandemic level this year — when family wealth across income groups is more robust than at any point in the new century.
This brief summary is not meant to be a complete scorecard. It does, however, provide an objective data set that can be tracked against Trump’s performance after he takes office.
Please feel free to suggest any data points you find useful. When you see Trump’s performance trending in the opposite direction, please share.
Weekend Joe