President
Joe Biden
claims the
economy
is strong. In reality, his economic policies have kept our economy mired in a slow-growth rut.
The economy is growing less than half as fast as it was when Biden took office. In the first quarter of 2021, when Biden had just arrived, the economy grew at a sizzling 6.3% rate as it rebounded out of the COVID-19 shutdown. Last year, the economy grew at a middling 2.1% rate, and the Atlanta Federal Reserve is now
forecasting
that GDP growth in the first quarter of this year will be only 0.7%. The economy has been stuck in this slow-growth rut for nearly 20 years. Since 2005, economic growth has averaged about 2% a year, the slowest extended growth rate in our nationâs history.
THE COMING CREDIT CRUNCH FOR CONSUMERS AND UNCLE SAM ALIKE
This anemic growth has meant a lower standard of living for working families. Slow growth means lower wages, fewer good jobs, and lost opportunities for everyone. It also results in lower tax revenues, more spending, and higher government debt. From 1960 to 2000, real GDP growth in the United States
averaged
3.5% a year. After the Kennedy tax cuts in the 1960s and the Reagan tax reforms in the 1980s, we had extended periods of economic growth averaging 5% a year.
From 1990 to 2000, the economy grew at 4% or more a year 10 times. But since 2000, it has reached 4% only once. With the exception of the bounce back from the shutdown in 2021, the economy has not reached 3% economic growth even once since 2005. This dismal economic growth slump is the direct result of Washingtonâs tax and spending spree since the mid-2000s. Since then, total annual tax and spending levels have nearly tripled, drawing billions of dollars out of the private economy that could be used to increase investment, expand productivity, and grow the economy.
With Republicans in the majority in the House, they should focus their attention on increasing economic growth. They should stop the disastrous anti-growth policies of the Biden administration and instead work on pro-growth policies. Increasing the economic growth rate from 2% to 3% would expand our economy by trillions of dollars over the next 10 years, leading to higher incomes, more quality jobs, and a better future for all of us.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM RESTORING AMERICA
Bruce Thompson was a U.S. Senate aide, assistant secretary of Treasury for legislative affairs, and the director of government relations for Merrill Lynch for 22 years.