Quote:
Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald
You do know that the majority of the damage to the economy is a result of the economic and tax policy of the Trump administration? Biden has had one cycle where his economic and tax policy could be implemented, so we are not yet sure of the actual outcome of those policies. Economic policies routinely take two years to impact the economy. It's why the first two years after a Republican president the next guy has traditionally had to recover from an economic disaster, and then why after Democrats the economy is singing along. The only one that this doesn't track with is Reagan after Carter, but since WWII, it's been consistent. The only thing Republicans are good at is tugging at the patriotic heartstrings of a bunch of rubes and running scare campaigns. Again, been consistent since the Willie Horton ad ran in 1988.
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The events of 2016-present have no historical equivalency. There have been so many unprecedented events and moving pieces.
The Trump tax cuts were a bit evil (but not unique) in benefiting wealthy more than poor. But they were also (cleverly?) evil in redistributing wealth from blue to red states with SALT cap. Those parts didn't really hurt the economy. The fact that they were unfunded without any cuts in spending at a time of an already overheating economy was the problematic problem for the long term economic outlook. It started the ball rolling on inflation and took away tools to smooth the dip in the inevitable downturn.
Then there was the COVID economy, and it is almost impossible to unpack the impact of the events and government interventions on the economy during that period. Trump's words and actions did lead to a lot more death than was necessary though.
Once the dust settle on all that and the country tried to return to normal and the Russian war was thrown into the mix, there was an obvious inflation problem.
I'd argue that Biden's administration and the Federal Reserve have done a remarkable job of curbing inflation without creating a debilitating recession (so far). Employment is staying strong, inflation is settling, housing market is normal. The economy is obviously fragile, but it's hard to say it is objectively bad.
Yeah, YOHO can point to people saying things were cheaper under Trump, so their life was better, and I know that is as simple as it gets for a lot of people. Another couple years of a loose cannon Trump would have likely been a disaster for the economy as he no longer had anyone in his administration who could navigate the nuanced challenges the economy was facing.
All that said, Biden didn't win many votes for his administrations nuanced handling of the economy. The overturning of Roe v Wade made politics real for a lot of people on the sidelines, and Trump's meddling in picking loser candidates were the big difference makers.