Bidenomics
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The TIME on Bidenomics, contrasting it with Reaganomics
https://time.com/6343967/bidenomics-is-real-economics/
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Like Reaganomics before it, Bidenomics is largely an argument over economic cause and effect. Bidenomics argues that a large and thriving middle class is the primary cause of economic growth. “When the middle class does well, everybody does well,” the President has repeatedly explained. This is the core proposition of Bidenomics: that prosperity grows from the bottom up and the middle out.
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Reaganomics, by contrast, argues that wealthy “job creators” are the primary cause of economic growth. “If we want job growth, we need to recognize who really creates jobs in America,” former House Speaker John Boehner memorably explained in a speech that lauded President Ronald Reagan for recognizing “that private sector job creators are the heart of our economy.” This is the core proposition of Reaganomics: that prosperity trickle’s down from the top.
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This argument between Bidenomics and Reaganomics—between “middle-out” and “trickle-down”—reflects a fundamental disagreement over how market economies work with enormous implications for how we craft economic policy. Reaganomics argues that it is the availability of investment capital (that is, the money of the wealthy) that is the primary constraint on growth, and so it advances policies that focus on the needs of investors while trusting in the “invisible hand” of the market to fairly and efficiently distribute the benefits of any resulting growth. But Bidenomics understands that the only way to grow the economy is to fully include more people in it—as entrepreneurs, as innovators, as well-paid workers, and as robust consumers—and so it advances policies that intentionally focus on the needs of people, not money, while trusting in the dynamism of markets to innovate new solutions in response.
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The argument about growing the middle class is bs rhetoric based on everybody’s tendency to believe themselves middle class. The slow decline of the middle class is not because people are growing poorer, it’s the opposite. People are growing wealthier. The percentage of the population that falls in the definition of upper class or wealthy is the largest it’s ever been and is growing.
Beyond that, the definitions are skewed anyway. The lifestyle of the middle class approaches the lifestyle of the upper class. The lifestyle of the lower class approaches that of the perceived middle class.
Me/rry/Christmas
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@LuFins-Dad said in Bidenomics:
The argument about growing the middle class is bs rhetoric based on everybody’s tendency to believe themselves middle class. The slow decline of the middle class is not because people are growing poorer, it’s the opposite. People are growing wealthier. The percentage of the population that falls in the definition of upper class or wealthy is the largest it’s ever been and is growing.
So ... have you grown wealthier? Have you advanced beyond the "middle class" into the "upper class"?
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Have you stopped eating boogers? From that experience can I extrapolate the prevalence of booger eating on a national level?
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Krugman:
Our Economy Isn’t ‘Goldilocks.’ It’s Better.... [Fed Chair Jerome] Powell is clearly wrestling with a dilemma many countries wish they had: What’s the right monetary policy when the news is good on just about all fronts?
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... We have an economy that is both piping hot (in terms of growth and job creation) and refreshingly cool (in terms of inflation).
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First, inflation. For both historical and technical reasons, the Fed aims for 2 percent inflation; over the past six months, its preferred price measure has risen at an annual rate of … 2 percent. “Core” inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, has been running slightly below target.
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The Fed also looks at wage growth, not because workers have caused inflation, but because wages are usually the stickiest part of inflation and therefore an indicator of whether disinflation is sustainable. Well, on Wednesday, the Employment Cost Index came in below expectations and is now more or less consistent with the Fed’s target. On Thursday we learned that productivity has been rising rapidly, so unit labor costs are easily consistent with low inflation.
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Finally, real G.D.P. grew a very solid 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter, making all those predictions of a 2023 recession look even sillier.
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As typically happens when there’s a Democrat in the White House, the usual suspects are questioning the official data. But the strength of the job market and the fall in inflation are confirmed by many independent surveys of consumers and businesses.
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So it has been good news all around. This is arguably the best economy we’ve had since the late 1990s.
...Conclusion:
This is a good economy.
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Krugman?
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@George-K said in Bidenomics:
Jobs report coming this AM. People are not optimistic.
I can’t wait till June to see what the numbers are!
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By the way, does anyone else find it interesting and informative that rhetoric and proposals for taxing the wealthy more and helping the middle class more moved the financial goalposts from $250K income per family to $400K in just 4 years?
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@George-K said in Bidenomics:
Jobs report coming this AM. People are not optimistic.
Lots of layoffs in the tech sector, my son among them.
Always remember, Operation Valkyrie was an act of sedition.
Warning: I post things that interest me. Read and comment at your own discretion. -
@Jolly said in Bidenomics:
Lots of layoffs in the tech sector, my son among them.
Sorry your son was laid off.
Given the economy, chances are good that he will find something better soon.From the latest employment report @George-K just linked to:
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 353,000 in January, and the unemployment rate remained at 3.7 percent,
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@Axtremus said in Bidenomics:
@Jolly said in Bidenomics:
Lots of layoffs in the tech sector, my son among them.
Sorry your son was laid off.
Given the economy, chances are good that he will find something better soon.From the latest employment report @George-K just linked to:
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 353,000 in January, and the unemployment rate remained at 3.7 percent,
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One of Donald Trump’s leading economic advisers now admits he was wrong about the predictions he made for the economy under President Joe Biden.“Mea culpa,” Fox Business host Larry Kudlow said on the air Thursday. “I was wrong about the slowdown and the recession, so was the entire forecasting fraternity.”
Kudlow made a similar confession about the strength of the economy last month when the gross domestic product GDP jumped faster than expected.“He gets his due,” Kudlow said of Biden. “If I were he, I would be out slinging that hash, too. No problem.”
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@taiwan_girl said in Bidenomics:
One of Donald Trump’s leading economic advisers now admits he was wrong about the predictions he made for the economy under President Joe Biden.“Mea culpa,” Fox Business host Larry Kudlow said on the air Thursday. “I was wrong about the slowdown and the recession, so was the entire forecasting fraternity.”
There’s the problem right there. The forecasting community needs more female voices.
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@taiwan_girl said in Bidenomics:
One of Donald Trump’s leading economic advisers now admits he was wrong about the predictions he made for the economy under President Joe Biden.“Mea culpa,” Fox Business host Larry Kudlow said on the air Thursday. “I was wrong about the slowdown and the recession, so was the entire forecasting fraternity.”
Kudlow made a similar confession about the strength of the economy last month when the gross domestic product GDP jumped faster than expected.“He gets his due,” Kudlow said of Biden. “If I were he, I would be out slinging that hash, too. No problem.”
I don't think he was wrong about what will happen, he was wrong about the timing.
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The Washington Post carries water:
Inflation has fallen. Why are groceries still so expensive?
Americans are finally getting a break from inflation, with prices for gasoline, used cars and health insurance all falling over the past year, relieving families and buoying President Biden’s 2024 reelection bid. But prices painfully remain high for one particularly frequent purchase: groceries.
Grocery prices have jumped by 25 percent over the past four years, outpacing overall inflation of 19 percent during the same period. And while prices of appliances, smartphones and a smattering of other goods have declined, groceries got slightly more expensive last year, with particularly sharp jumps for beef, sugar and juice, among other items.
Stubbornly high grocery prices represent a critical drain on the finances of tens of millions of people and remain, along with housing, perhaps the most persistent economic challenge for the Biden administration as it tries to convince Americans the economy is back on solid footing. For all the attention on gas prices and housing, more than two-thirds of voters say inflation has hit them hardest through higher food prices, according to a November 2023 survey by Yahoo Finance/Ipsos. That’s more than 50 percentage points higher than any other category.
"Inflation has fallen."
No, the rate of inflation has slowed. There's a difference. Is the price of gas lower than it was last year? Yeah. Now go back 3 years, and get back to me.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@George-K said in Bidenomics:
The Washington Post carries water:
Inflation has fallen. Why are groceries still so expensive?
Americans are finally getting a break from inflation, with prices for gasoline, used cars and health insurance all falling over the past year, relieving families and buoying President Biden’s 2024 reelection bid. But prices painfully remain high for one particularly frequent purchase: groceries.
Grocery prices have jumped by 25 percent over the past four years, outpacing overall inflation of 19 percent during the same period. And while prices of appliances, smartphones and a smattering of other goods have declined, groceries got slightly more expensive last year, with particularly sharp jumps for beef, sugar and juice, among other items.
Stubbornly high grocery prices represent a critical drain on the finances of tens of millions of people and remain, along with housing, perhaps the most persistent economic challenge for the Biden administration as it tries to convince Americans the economy is back on solid footing. For all the attention on gas prices and housing, more than two-thirds of voters say inflation has hit them hardest through higher food prices, according to a November 2023 survey by Yahoo Finance/Ipsos. That’s more than 50 percentage points higher than any other category.
"Inflation has fallen."
No, the rate of inflation has slowed. There's a difference. Is the price of gas lower than it was last year? Yeah. Now go back 3 years, and get back to me.
In 2020 we were offered a subscription to WaPo through our Prime membership for $3.99 per month. Now the price is $7.99 per month. The expected costs by the end of the year is $11.99 per month.
