President Biden has been touting how good the economy has been doing since he assumed office. And he is right. By all the normal economic indicators, the economy is doing very well. In fact, it is doing better than any of the other developed nations.
But poll after poll has shown that most Americans don't think the economy is doing well. And they are right. While the rich and upper middle classes are doing very well, most Americans still struggle to keep up with corporate inflation. This is because the booming economy is not a fair economy that benefits everyone.
How did this unfairness happen?
About 1980, the Republican Party gained enough power to change U.S. economic policy. Before then, the rising productivity was generally shared by the rich, the middle class, and the working class. And thanks to President Johnson's War on Poverty, even the poor got a share.
But the Republicans instituted their "trickle-down" economic policy. They tilted the economic playing field to favor the rich, telling Americans that when the rich got richer it would benefit everyone because that extra money for the rich would trickle down through the society and benefit everyone.
That didn't happen. While the rich got much richer, almost nothing trickled down. Rising productivity was no longer shared, but selfishly hogged by the rich and their corporations. The result was the biggest gap between the rich and other Americans since the 1920's - a gap that continues to grow larger every year!
President Biden should stop talking about how well the economy is doing, and start talking about the real economic issue - how unfair the Republican policies are to most Americans. And he needs to highlight what he (and a Democratic Congress) can do to return to an economy fair to all Americans.
