How far does your head need to be buried in the sand to convince yourself that Bidenomics has been absolved of all the disaster it wrought on the U.S. economy? Only New York Times economics pseudo-savant Paul Krugman appears to know.
Krugman's desperate attempts to rewrite the pathetic story of Bidenomics continues to get worse with each new column he spits out on The Times’s homepage. “All the Good Economic News Vindicates Bidenomics,” read Krugman’s latest drivel-laced headline. “It’s hard to overstate just how good recent economic numbers have been,” pointing to a small string of meaningless anecdotes that get obliterated in context, especially in light of the aftermath of the blistering inflation crisis Americans have wrestled with for years under President Joe Biden.
Krugman asked his readers if his uncontextualized view of Biden’s supposedly “solid” jobs “growth,” so-called “falling inflation” and low unemployment rate “vindicate Bidenomics?” In Krugman’s view, “I would say yes — but not quite the way you might imagine.” Krugman’s new spin not only gaslights on the true, precarious state of Biden’s economy, but he also claims that Biden’s policies aren’t necessarily the cause of the mirage of success he’s cheering for:
But if President Biden’s policies weren’t the main cause of low unemployment and inflation, why do I say they were vindicated? Because our success at getting to the good place where we are right now shows that progressive economic policies are, in fact, feasible.
Huh? Somebody please make it make sense!
Krugman’s assertion that inflation is “falling” is grossly misleading given that prices haven’t gone down. In fact, consumer prices are a whopping 20 percent higher than they were since Biden took office, and still increasing, albeit at a slower rate, according to Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni. In fact, wrote Antoni in a post on X, “many consumer staples are up 30% to 40% - or more.”
On jobs, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a Sept. 27 analysis sounding the alarm on “America’s labor shortage.” According to the analysis, “Even if every unemployed worker were to fill an open job within their respective industry, there would still be millions of unfilled job positions, highlighting the widespread labor shortage.” In August, Antoni confirmed to MRC Business that “[o]ver 5 million Americans are still missing from the labor force compared to pre-pandemic.”
Prices overall have risen 20% since Jan '21, according to the CPI, but many consumer staples are up 30% to 40% - or more: pic.twitter.com/n2Vx3g0EAx
— E.J. Antoni, Ph.D. (@RealEJAntoni) October 12, 2024
But there is a laundry list of other mitigating factors that undercut Krugman’s starry-eyed euphoria about the Biden economy. The Ascent reported Oct. 8 that 63 percent of U.S. employees can’t afford a $500 emergency expense. In addition, “76% of employees don't have enough savings to cover one month of their expenses” and “Over one-third of employees earning $100,000 or more live paycheck to paycheck.” Another Sept. 25 analysis by the Financial Health Network determined that “the majority of Americans are not financially healthy, with expenses outpacing income, little wiggle room to protect against financial shocks, and diminished hope for the future.”
But Krugman, clearly high on his own unbreakable ego, had the audacity to lecture critics of giving dire predictions about the economy that, in his view, haven’t panned out, despite the fact that he’s the same person who spent months falsely lecturing the country that the inflation crisis was transitory:
In other words, many of those dire predictions about the economy should be seen as ideological, or just cynical assertions that if you try to protect the environment and help families and important industries — as opposed to, say, cutting taxes on the rich — you’ll wreck the economy.
Looks like Krugman just happened to mind-wipe the past three and a half years of the Biden policy-induced economic disaster from his memory’s data bank. It’s difficult to find a media talking head more disconnected from economic reality than Krugman, who spent America’s bout with inflation cushioned on top of a $5 million net worth, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
American Enterprise Institute fellows Danielle Pletka and Marc A. Thiessen were more forthcoming about the enormous struggles facing Americans under Bidenomics:
[W]hile inflation may be lower today than it was three years ago, its compounding effects mean that prices are still sky-high. On top of that, Americans recently hit a record high of over a trillion dollars in credit card debt. In short, it doesn’t take a PhD to understand that Americans are hurting.
It also doesn’t take a PhD to conclude that Krugman is about as much of a serious economist as a hammerhead shark is a serious vegan.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact The New York Times at 1 (800) 698-4637 and demand it distance itself from Krugman’s terrible economic takes.
