A week before Christmas, President Donald Trump once again attacked Biden’s economy, grossly departing from truth and reality. Trump said he actually brought prices down, that you lost 20% of your savings under Biden, and that the unemployment numbers and loss of job openings were all government bureaucrats. Not true.
The official cost of living index (CPI-U) was 317.671 in January when Trump took office. It was 324.122 in November. That means higher prices – not lower.
Trump handed off COVID-19 to Biden after 400,000 Americans had died, at the peak death rate. After Biden took office, the pandemic slowed and he sent out stimulus checks to mitigate the economic impact. The stock market responded, roaring up 57%, far beyond the 21% inflation over his four-year presidency. People with conventional fixed-rate mortgages saw them reduced 18% by inflation. People with retirement accounts (for example, IRAs and 401(k)s) in broad equity funds saw them rise by more than 29% beyond inflation. Even if they split 50/50 between equities and savings accounts, they still netted well over 8% total growth after four years.
In Trump’s first 10 months, full-time employment dropped by 640,000 jobs – 300,000 in government and 340,000 in non-government sectors.
When Trump quoted drug discounts of 600%, 1,000% and 1,500%, he obviously didn’t understand discounts or percentages. Don’t expect him to understand inflation, CPI, return on investments, tariffs or other numbers of affordability or the economy.
Gerald Baumann
Durango
