Biden’s Main Economic (Political) Problem

There has been plenty of bad economic news for Joe Biden, most notably rising levels of inflation.

He also is being criticized for his tax-and-spend fiscal agenda. And mocked for his assertions about red ink.

But I think his main problem is this chart, courtesy of the Atlantic‘s Derek Thompson, which shows that prices are rising faster than earnings for the average American.

The bottom line is that people don’t like inflation, but they probably would not be nearly as upset if their income was rising at least as quickly as prices.

But that’s not happening. And this means the average family is enduring a pay cut, when measured in actual purchasing power.

I shared a version of these numbers back in March as part of a six-part series on Biden’s economic mistakes (the other five columns can be found here, here, here, here, and here).

That data also shows that inflation is rising faster than earnings. And that’s true even if fringe benefits are included.

What’s ironic about this data is that Joe Biden doesn’t deserve blame for the outbreak of inflation. Today’s rising prices are a consequence of mistakes by the Federal Reserve that took place before Biden was in the White House.

Though Biden’s subsequent appointments to the Fed suggest he either does not understand the problem of inflation or doesn’t care. So it’s not as if he deserves much sympathy.

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Image credit: Gage Skidmore | CC BY-SA 2.0.