In a major economic policy speech in the lobby of Chicago’s old main post office in June, President Joe Biden enthusiastically branded his economic growth strategy as “Bidenomics,” a term that was basically created by The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times but, like “Obamacare,” has been embraced by Democrats as if it were Biden’s idea all along. “Bidenomics” sounds a lot like Biden’s traditional liberalism, an updated version of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal or Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society.
Despite Biden presiding over a generally improving economic picture, his reelection bid has needed all the help it can get. His approval ratings have been stubbornly tepid, particularly on the economy, recently sinking close to the lowest level of his presidency after the Supreme Court killed his $400 billion student loan forgiveness plan. And the political temperature is rising: July 1 marked a time on the calendar that falls halfway between last year’s midterm elections and next year’s far more consequential presidential election with an astonishingly unbloodied Donald Trump on the attack, his federal indictments notwithstanding.
Wednesday bought good news for the White House, though. The U.S. inflation rate fell to 3% in June, thanks to improvements in the prices of gasoline, airline fares, used cars and groceries, The Associated Press reported. That might not be the 2% the Federal Reserve says it ultimately wants, and interest rates still are expected to rise yet further this month. But it’s a big difference from the 4% rate reported in May and, of course, the much steeper inflation rates in previous months that have given Americans sticker shock everywhere from their local fast-food outlet to the bill for the plumber.
