All is well, according to the White House. In the wake of reports that the U.S. economy shrank by 0.4% in the first quarter of 2022, we’re being told not to worry, that everything is fine, and that reports of a looming recession are unfounded, etc., etc.
Biden blamed the shrinking economy on “technical factors,” and according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki, “Our economists and our economic team continue to feel confident in the strength of the economy, even as we monitor a range of data.”
Oh, their economists say that, do they? Well, they seem to the be the only ones who think so. Many experts (the ones not being paid to be cheerleaders for the Biden agenda) say a recession is inevitable.
Honestly, I have no reason to believe any economist working for a Democrat White House. Liberal economists are generally horrible (see Paul Krugman and Robert Reich) and don’t seem to have anything resembling an understanding of … well … economics.
Related: Does the Media Think It Can Use Talking Points to Stave off a Recession?
But there’s something galling about White House economists who insist on using their “White House economist” title to legitimize partisan propaganda over sound economic policy. I always go back to when the Obama White House was pushing for the economic stimulus.
According to the Obama White House, the 2009 economic stimulus, officially called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, would usher in a new era of American prosperity. It would not only keep unemployment low, but it would reduce poverty, create a new green economy, and provide shovel-ready projects that would rebuild our crumbling infrastructure.
Literally none of that happened.
Oh, but they had a chart that said it would! You remember that chart, right? This chart plotted the trajectory of the U.S. unemployment rate both with and without Obama’s economic stimulus. White House economists said at the time that without the stimulus, the unemployment rate would hit 9% … but with the stimulus, it wouldn’t get above 8%.
Well, the stimulus passed, and not only did the unemployment go above 8%, but it also went above 9% and hit 10% in October 2009. Remember those days? That was fun.
In other words, the economy performed worse with the stimulus than Obama White House economists said it would without the stimulus.
Listening to White House economists today reminds me of when Obama White House economists tried to sell us on the stimulus. pic.twitter.com/Tz7cOIDf5h
— Margolis & Cox (@MargolisandCox) April 30, 2022
Despite Obama’s stimulus, it wasn’t until May 2014—a whopping 77 months after the start of the recession—before non-farm employment returned to pre-recession levels, making Obama’s economic recovery the slowest since the Great Depression.
This is why I take zero comfort that White House economists today “feel confident in the strength of the economy.” Joe Biden has been claiming for months that he’s God’s greatest gift to the economy because he happened to take office as the COVID-19 lockdowns were lifted and the COVID vaccines were suddenly available. Is Biden’s team of economists at the White House responsible for such talking points as “inflation is a good thing,” “inflation will be transitory,” or “it’s Putin’s fault?”
Sorry, but there’s a bit of a credibility problem there.