Fuzzy Math: White House Misleads On Bidenomics

The Biden administration has embraced the term 'Bidenomics' and is using it to tout positive aspects of the economy while crediting President Joe Biden's policies. But economists say the White House is playing fast and loose with the numbers in order to paint a rosy picture. One critic even accuses the administration of "deliberately distorting data" to downplay the negative impact of Bidenomics.

The White House is touting low unemployment, rising personal income, and continued strong consumer spending as evidence that everything is hunky dory in BidenLand. The administration also likes to say that inflation is cooling, even though it remains well above the historical average and is now on the way up again.

While personal income and wages have risen under Biden, those numbers discount the elephant in the room---inflation. "Inflation-adjusted median household income is now at the lowest level since 2018," says Vance Ginn, independent economist. "And it's because of higher inflation, while income hasn't been increasing at that same rate."

Ginn tells KTRH that having more money in your pocket doesn't mean much when that money is eaten up with higher prices. "We're seeing the labor market start to slow down, not as many jobs are being created," he says. "And at the same time, people aren't having enough to pay for the cost of food and everything else that's going up in price all around them."

"Their gas is going up, their food bills are going up, and most people have run through the savings that was built up in the last couple of years," Ginn continues. "And now, credit card debt has reached more than a trillion dollars."

Indeed, most of that strong consumer spending touted by the White House is in the form of new debt. Ginn warns all of that debt combined with rising interest rates is a recipe for disaster. "Credit card interest rates now are close to 25 percent, and mortgage rates are above seven percent, when they were about half of that just last year," he says. "This is all going to come home to roost."