Bidenomics Blather

It seems that there are different rules involving basic economics when it comes to Washington, D.C. compared to the real world.

First, consider the federal debt.

Since the federal debt limit was expanded less than a month ago the U.S. Treasury has added $800 billion in additional debt outstanding.

Recall that the new debt limit passed into law does not have any debt limit number.

The debt can be expanded to any amount the U.S. Treasury desires until January 1, 2025 at which time borrowing authority must be renewed.

The original House-passed bill to raise the debt limit provided for a $1.5 trillion increase. 

At current levels of spending that was projected to be enough to allow for a year of borrowing.

Instead, under the new deal the Treasury has burned through half of that amount in less than a month?

As I pointed out in an earlier blog there is nothing to prevent Treasury from borrowing $3 trillion, $5 trillion or $10 trillion over the next 18 months.

If you want to know how out of control Washington is, you don't have to look much further than the chart above.

Do you remember what the name of the bill was that increased the debt limit?

The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023.

Only the government could conceive of a law that is sold as "fiscal responsibility" and leads to an increase in the national debt outstanding of almost $1 trillion in less than a month.

Second, the guy in charge in Washington, D.C. does not know the difference between what a deficit is and what debt is.

Biden is continually telling people that he has reduced the debt by $1.7 trillion in his first two years. Some times he says it is $1.7 billion.

He even has said that he has cut the federal debt in half in that time.

Source: Click here to view clip

Biden does not seen to know the difference between billions and trillions. Nor the difference between deficits and debt.

He clearly is referring to the annual deficit. However, how much credit should anyone take for cutting the federal deficit in half when you are comparing it to when D.C. was practically throwing money at everyone and everything during Covid?

Source: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FYFSD

Third, someone in the Biden administration ( I hope it was not Joe) has now had the brilliant idea of branding the "success" of the economy under Biden as Bidenomics.

Credit: https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1674165845138735104

The Biden brain trust has decided that the reason that Biden is polling poorly on economic issues with the American people is due to poor messaging.

They look at the polls and have decided that people just don't realize how great they have it.

Biden just needs to do a better job of messaging.

Don't believe your lying eyes. We will tell you what to believe.

For example, only 21% of voters overall think the country is headed in the right direction according to this recent AP poll.

Compare the numbers today to when Biden took office during the middle of the Covid pandemic.

Just 24% of voters overall believe the economy is good.

Do Democrats in D.C. honestly believe that Biden's economic policies have been great but people just don't realize it?

Consider this chart that shows personal consumption expenditure inflation.

This is the indicator that the Federal Reserve puts the most stock in regarding inflation.

Is it just a coincidence that inflation took off in 2021 just as Biden took office and started his attack on oil and gas? Is it just a coincidence that the prices of this key resource started rising at that time?

Of course, energy costs then go into all other components of consumer expenditures.

Biden keeps talking about wage gains.

However, when inflation is subtracted the REAL average wages of Americans are in negative territory.

Real wages have fallen in 19 of the 28 months that Biden has been in office.

Credit: https://twitter.com/FrogNews/status/1674378171179737089

When did real wages start dropping?

Is it another coincidence it started in January 2021?

The Department of Labor also just announced that the United States has just gone five consecutive quarters where productivity has been negative.

This is the first time this has occurred since this measure was first tracked beginning in 1948.

Productivity also seemed to start dropping just as "Bidenomics" came to Washington.

Another coincidence?

On the one hand we have reality as revealed in the data above.

On the other, we have Joe Biden telling us that we have undergone an economic miracle under his leadership involving "Bidenomics".

My question is if the economy goes into a recession, the stock market falls and unemployment rises will Biden or the Democrats admit his theory has been disproven?

I have a hunch that Bidenomics will not be a term that endures very long.

It is just another example of the blather that comes out of Washington, D.C.