I would argue that Biden is handing Trump a nation that is economically & socially in much better shape than what Trump handed to Biden in 2021. Biden got no credit for this at all. And the Dems lost an election, even though I’d argue their policies have made America verifiably stronger than what they inherited in 2021. Again, this points to a communication & propaganda problem, not a policy problem.
See the list below of all the items that are either decent, very good, or great.
Unemployment: 4.2%, low by historic standards.
Unemployment Rate (UNRATE) | FRED | St. Louis Fed
Prime Age Employment: 80.4%. Highest since about 2001.
Employment-Population Ratio - 25-54 Yrs. (LNS12300060) | FRED | St. Louis Fed
Inflation: Core PCE is about 2.8%. Inflation subsided from post-pandemic supply-side shock without a recession.
Multivariate Core Trend Inflation - FEDERAL RESERVE BANK of NEW YORK
Murder Rate: Is now back below the spike that occurred in 2020. And numbers in 2024 indicate it will go even lower.
An Overview of US Crime and Policing Trends - by Jeff Asher
Uninsured Rate: 8%, which is as low as it’s ever been in the US
Percent uninsured - Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker
Oil/Gas production: Highest ever in history.
United States produces more crude oil than any country, ever - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
Job Creation: Very strong post-pandemic, and although cooling off, still producing jobs at a decent clip.
Bureau of Labor Statistics Data
Wage growth: Has out-stripped inflation, so caught up with the post-pandemic inflation burst
Arin Dube on X: “An update on real wages. Real wage growth continues to be strong. For non-managerial workers (80% of private workforce), wages above pre-pandemic trend after accounting for inflation. And the reduction in wage inequality from tight labor markets of 2021-2023 has persisted. https://t.co/rBvYIo4stp” / X
GDP Growth has outstripped the rest of the industrialized world, making us the envy of the world economically.
American outperformance in the global economy | The Real Economy Blog
Let’s add one more item to the list: US Average Life Expectancy.
What did Biden inherit: He inherited the pandemic, which knocked our life expectancy down to about 76. It’s now back up to 78.4, which is almost as high as it was pre-pandemic (78.8 in 2019). The US is far below most of the rest of the developed world, but at least we’ve mostly reversed the pandemic. Biden didn’t get re-elected. But he sure gave Trump a much better balance sheet than what he inherited from Trump.
Is anyone aware of an effort to put together a snapshot of important measurable economic and social measures as of 1/20/25, which will allow ready comparison of what Trump is or isn’t able to accomplish?
I have no idea how short or long such a list ought to be: inflation, GDP, unemployment, mortgage rates, immigrants in/out, rates of infectious diseases, federal deficit, the price of eggs, … Many good suggestions in this short thread.
I think it would be interesting if such a list were compiled and updated, just to allow some ready comparison of consistent data. It would surprise me if no one was maintaining such a tracker, but my Google-fu is failing me.
The economy is basically Goldilocks right now – low unemployment, low inflation. The people agree – one month after the election, people changed their mind about how they’re doing compared with four years prior – from “worse” to “better” in one month, October to November.
Crime is way down, probably back to pre-pandemic levels.
Real wages are up.
The Bureau of Labor & Statistics has a lot good stuff. However, I’m worried they’ll be corrupted by MAGA demands. But taking them as a starting point, along with the CBO & CDC, one could get a reasonably good view.
Then, there’s the St. Louis FED’s “FRED” graphs. Those are the most useful things out there to get quick snapshots of key data.
If he institutes the tariffs he promised, inflation will rise, but the government won’t acknowledge that. And if some prices do become noticed, he will blame it on the poor economy Biden left him. He will never ever admit a policy failure (or any other kind). Similarly, he claims the crime rate rose under Biden (it actually fell) and will claim it is falling under him, even it it rises. Government statistics will no longer be trustworthy.
It just kinda surprises me that, given all the minutiae online, no one has thought to post some list of prominent econ/soc stats from Biden day last, with updates as of Trump day whatever.