Economics should be a required subject in the public-school curriculum. It should certainly be a checkmark on the resume of anyone who runs for public office.
Yes, there are dueling economic theories, but they all have points in common:
- Cutting taxes on high incomes does not benefit people with low incomes.
2. Not enough supply and too much demand cause inflation.
3. Very low interest rates can spur demand.
4. The president has little control over the price of food or fuel.
5. War, supply-chain issues, and weather do impact food supplies and prices.
If politicians are blaming inflation on the president, on any president, they’re using a well-honed political tool, and they’re lying.
There are too many poor people in this country, and politicians do have a role to play in helping people move up the economic ladder. Unfortunately, some don’t want to help the people at the bottom. They believe their job is to get theirs and yours is to get yours. Some are self-serving. Some are just misguided.
In the past two years we have seen some real gains on the economic front, despite the pandemic, extreme weather events, and the global impact of the war in Ukraine. President Biden has shown courage and patience as his party, with the thinnest of margins, seeks to work across the aisle to get things done.
Maybe you didn’t get everything you wanted, but we made progress.
If we want to keep moving forward, if we want to stop the slide toward autocracy, we must get behind the president and those who helped get his priorities passed into law. Now is not the time to complain about what we didn’t get done but to speak up about what was accomplished. We mustn’t lose momentum or the power of incumbency.
President Biden is not a savior. He’s just a man, but one who puts duty to country before himself. And he understands economics! Following his example of compromise, of give and take, we can continue to make progress.
The alternative is unthinkable.
