Bidenomics Is a Battle Between Efficiency and Resilience
The White House’s economic policies are designed to help the economy weather rough patches down the road rather than produce an immediate payoff.
Is it good or bad?
Photographer: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
Just how good is the economics in Bidenomics? The Biden administration is in full PR mode, crisscrossing the country to promote the president’s economic policies. These include the Infrastructure Act of 2021, the Chips and Science Act of 2022 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, all of which provide incentives for companies to invest in physical infrastructure. It will take years to gauge their impact on the economy.
A simple comparison between the slow recovery from the financial crisis during the Obama administration and the rapid one under Biden clearly suggests that the latter’s approach of prioritizing people — the child tax credit in 2021, the stimulus checks and the added unemployment benefits -- has paid off in terms of juicing growth. But instead of asking whether the policies are paying dividends right now, let’s ask whether they strike the right balance between efficiency and resilience.