Economics

Inflation Pain Means Biden Gets No Credit for Roaring Economy

  • Most Americans happy with own finances, but see economy as bad
  • Klain assures lawmakers State of Union will address prices

Customers in line to check out at a grocery store in San Francisco, California, U.S.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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Karen Downing, a U.S. Navy retiree living on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, voted for Joe Biden in November 2020 -- expecting the new president to end the Covid-19 crisis and then pivot to tackling broader and long-standing social ills, like alleviating student-loan debt and increasing access to mental-health services.

Downing, 58, says she figured that Biden’s presidency would be “an uphill battle on how to bring the country together, knowing that change takes time.” She was a huge supporter of his sweeping Build Back Better social-spending package, believing it would address entrenched socioeconomic problems.