U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the U.S. economy and his administration’s effort to revive American manufacturing, during his visit to Flex LTD, a factory that makes solar energy microinverters, in West Columbia, South Carolina, July 6, 2023.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
President Joe Biden is fighting to convince inflation-weary voters that the U.S. economy is healthy.
“America has the best economy in the world,” he told NBC’s “TODAY” on Monday, laying out an argument that is central to his reelection campaign.
America’s economic standing in the world is becoming an early flashpoint on the campaign trail, where former President Donald Trump routinely depicts the United States as a commercial wasteland.
“We are a nation whose economy is collapsing into a cesspool of ruin, whose supply chain is broken, whose stores are not stocked, whose deliveries are not coming,” Trump shouted at a Georgia rally last month.
But the numbers paint a different picture, one more in line with Biden’s narrative of American economic dominance than Trump’s apocalyptic warnings.
Inflation has fallen sharply from its 2022 highs, although it has ticked back up in the past several months.
“On inflation, it is too soon to say whether the recent readings represent more than just a bump,” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, U.S. gross domestic product grew 2.5% in 2023, significantly outpacing that of other developed economies, according to a January report from the International Monetary Fund. The IMF projected that the U.S. will hold that lead in 2024, though it expects the rate to come down to 2.1%.
Two other large advanced economies, Canada and Germany, lagged with 2023 GDP growth at 1.1% and negative 0.3%, respectively.
“The U.S. economy is leading the way for the global economy. It’s driving the global economic train,” Moody’s chief economist Mark Zandi told CNBC.
As economists watch U.S. inflation’s wobbly descent, the numbers still remain hot in developed…
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