Bidenomics Was A Success

It's terribly elitist to say so, but I'm sorry, it happens to be true.

You’re gonna miss this guy.

President Joe Biden mismanaged the economy so terribly that he leaves office with payroll employment up by 256,000 for December, unemployment at 4.1 percent, wage growth outpacing inflation (at it has for two years), and inflation at 2.7 percent. If this is failure then I can’t wait to see success.

I’ll grant you that the stock market, which many people mistake for the economy, tanked Friday, but that was because the employment news was too good. It was so good that the Fed is unlikely to lower interest rates later this month. Too many people have jobs, and they’re getting paid too much. That pisses your 401k off. Boo freaking hoo.

In other news, the International Longshoreman’s Association reached agreement with the maritime industry on a contract, mooting the ILA’s threat to go out on strike (for the second time in three months) on January 16. The Biden administration did this, too, but the ILA’s MAGA-loving president, Harold Daggett, gives all credit to Donald Trump, who did absolutely nothing. Indeed, had the ILA been out on strike on inauguration day I have little doubt Trump would have invoked Taft-Hartley on his new best friend Daggett to end the strike, something Biden refused steadfastly to do, instead pressuring management to accept ILA’s terms. That’s the subject of my latest New Republic piece, along with the SEIU’s re-joining the AFL-CIO. You can read it here.