'Joe Biden's economic record is not a good enough argument for the Democrats to win the next election'
As the incumbent US president prepares to run for a second term, Americans are not convinced that the Biden administration has improved their lives, despite flattering macroeconomic data, Stéphane Lauer writes.
A slogan does not a track record make. Joe Biden is learning this the hard way. For several months, the US president has been criss-crossing the country to tout "Bidenomics," a generic name he has appropriated to refer to the economic policies he has been pursuing for almost three years. But as he prepares to run for a second term, the White House's after-sales service is struggling to convince Americans that Biden has improved their lives, despite flattering macroeconomic data.
After the shock of Covid-19, growth rebounded faster than elsewhere, and it continues to accelerate. No country has been spared from inflation, but it is slowing faster in the US. As for unemployment, the rate was 6.3% when Biden arrived at the White House. Three years later, that rate has been almost halved and 14 million jobs have been created – an unprecedented figure for a single term in office.
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"Even if the United States is doing well, 'Bidenomics' isn't making an impression on the population, and that's a disaster for the Democrats," said Laurence Nardon, a researcher at the Institut Français des Relations Internationales and author of a memo on Biden's economic policy. The president may perceive a certain ingratitude on the part of his compatriots, after he launched a vast program of investment and financial support for the middle class.
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>>> To read Stéphane Lauer's editorial, click on this link.