{"id":1964148,"date":"2023-07-04T17:32:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-04T21:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/analysis-bidenomics-big-government-industrial-policy-and-centralized-control\/"},"modified":"2023-07-04T17:34:02","modified_gmt":"2023-07-04T21:34:02","slug":"analysis-bidenomics-big-government-industrial-policy-and-centralized-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/analysis-bidenomics-big-government-industrial-policy-and-centralized-control\/","title":{"rendered":"Analysis: Bidenomics: Embracing Big Government, Industrial Policy, and Centralized Control."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fanalysis-bidenomics-big-government-industrial-policy-and-centralized-control%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1964148&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"post_content\">\n<div class=\"aplayer_app\" data-source=\"https:\/\/vs1.youmaker.com\/assets\/2023\/0704\/16245ab7-9d0c-4c87-b5ee-15131c175439\/audio.mp3?length=12278349&#038;duration=1023\"><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<h2>The Rise of Bidenomics: Is It Working?<\/h2>\n<p>With an eye toward the upcoming presidential elections, the White House has launched a new public relations campaign called \u201cBidenomics,\u201d to define President Joe Biden\u2019s economic agenda.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know what the hell that is, but it\u2019s working,\u201d Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/speeches-remarks\/2023\/06\/17\/remarks-by-president-biden-at-a-political-rally-hosted-by-union-members-philadelphia-pa\/\">stated<\/a> at a June 17 union rally in Philadelphia, begging the question: what is Bidenomics, and is it working?<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2023\/06\/28\/bidenomics-is-working-the-presidents-plan-grows-the-economy-from-the-middle-out-and-bottom-up-not-the-top-down\/\">a White House statement<\/a>, Bidenomics rests on three pillars: massive \u201csmart\u201d government spending on renewable energy and semiconductors, support for unions and domestic manufacturing, and promoting competition. As a result, the White House states, \u201cour economy has added more than 13 million jobs\u2014including nearly 800,000 manufacturing jobs\u2014and we\u2019ve unleashed a manufacturing and clean energy boom.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>The Pillars of Bidenomics<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Massive government spending on renewable energy and semiconductors<\/li>\n<li>Support for unions and domestic manufacturing<\/li>\n<li>Promoting competition<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/industries\/public-sector\/our-insights\/the-chips-and-science-act-heres-whats-in-it\">Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science<\/a> (CHIPS) Act of 2022 allocates $280 billion in federal spending to bolster U.S. semiconductor manufacturing. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2021\/11\/08\/fact-sheet-the-bipartisan-infrastructure-deal-boosts-clean-energy-jobs-strengthens-resilience-and-advances-environmental-justice\/#:~:text=The%20Bipartisan%20Infrastructure%20Deal%27s%20more,electric%20grid%20in%20American%20history.\">Infrastructure Act of 2021<\/a> allocated more than $65 billion for \u201cclean energy\u201d projects. And the 2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/industries\/public-sector\/our-insights\/the-inflation-reduction-act-heres-whats-in-it\">Inflation Reduction Act<\/a> allocated an additional $394 billion for clean energy in the form of tax incentives, loans, and grants.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would define it as trickle-down big government,\u201d Jonathan Williams, chief economist at the American Legislative Exchange Council, told The Epoch Times. \u201cThe common thread of this administration has been growth and expansion of government power, and certainly big government spending.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5217510\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/04\/24\/id5217510-Jake-Sullivan-2-1200x800.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n    White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks at a press briefing at the White House on April 24, 2023. (Andrew Harnik\/AP Photo)<br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<p>According to National Security Advisor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/speeches-remarks\/2023\/04\/27\/remarks-by-national-security-advisor-jake-sullivan-on-renewing-american-economic-leadership-at-the-brookings-institution\/\">Jake Sullivan<\/a>, when Biden took office, \u201cAmerica\u2019s industrial base had been hollowed out. The vision of public investment that had energized the American project in the postwar years\u2014and indeed for much of our history\u2014had faded.\u201c<\/p>\n<p>Sullivan, who, despite his focus on security issues, has become a spokesman for Bidenomics, has been highly critical of what has been called \u201cReaganomics,\u201d or a platform of tax cuts, trade liberalization and deregulation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was one assumption at the heart of all of this policy: that markets always allocate capital productively and efficiently,\u201d Sullivan said during an April speech at the Brookings Institution.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPresident Biden \u2026 believes that building a twenty-first-century clean-energy economy is one of the most significant growth opportunities of the twenty-first century,\u201d he stated. \u201cBut that to harness that opportunity, America needs a deliberate, hands-on investment strategy to pull forward innovation, drive down costs, and create good jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite the administration\u2019s argument that government is best positioned to direct private industry, some critics say that waste and failure are the hallmarks of government industrial policy.<\/p>\n<h2>Political Investors<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cThe government is not in the business of making good investments,\u201d economist Arthur Laffer, a former advisor to Presidents Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump as well as U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, told The Epoch Times. \u201cThat\u2019s not what they should be doing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese guys are not good investors; they\u2019re political investors,\u201d Laffer said. The more the government seeks to influence the private sector, the more the private sector will orient itself toward producing what the government wants versus what consumers want.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5373071\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/07\/04\/id5373071-GettyImages-1157013969-1200x851.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n    Economist Arthur Laffer attends a ceremony where U.S. President Donald Trump presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in Washington on June 19, 2019. (Win McNamee\/Getty Images)<br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<p>\u201cBidenomics is nothing more than the application of government intervention to guide, direct and restructure the economy as the White House thinks it should be structured,\u201d Steve Hanke, economics professor at Johns Hopkins University, told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis type of interventionism flies under the rubric of \u2018industrial policy.\u2019 It\u2019s where government picks winners and losers by using levers of government policy, like taxes subsidies, regulations, tariffs, quotas, and even outright bans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Recent examples of government ventures into private industry include <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/solyndra-politics-infused-obama-energy-programs\/2011\/12\/14\/gIQA4HllHP_story.html\">Solyndra<\/a>, a California maker of solar panels that received $535 million in federal loan guarantees from the Obama administration before going bankrupt.<\/p>\n<p>Under Bidenomics, automakers are being pushed by a combination of consumer subsidies, manufacturing grants, and ever-tightening emissions regulations to switch their production from gasoline-powered cars and trucks to electric vehicles (EVs). However, there is scant evidence that enough consumers will switch to EVs to justify the investments or that carmakers will be able to source enough lithium, cobalt, and other minerals to build EV batteries in large quantities, or that the U.S. electric grid can build enough new generation capacity and connect enough charging stations to charge EVs at scale.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, the Biden administration is working to reduce domestic production of oil, gas, and coal in favor of wind and solar, with the same supply issues that automakers face. The required minerals for wind turbines and solar panels are typically mined in countries that may not be friendly to the United States, and it has created a heavy dependence on China, which controls most of the refining of these minerals.<\/p>\n<p>According to Hanke, who served on Reagan\u2019s Council of Economic Advisors, \u201cBidenomics is nothing new. Advocates of industrial policy in the 1980s used to latch onto Japan as a model for industrial policy, arguing that it contributed to Japan\u2019s emergence as an economic power after World War II.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut since the last three lost decades in Japan, the industrial policy advocates have gone radio silent,\u201d Hanke said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to imagine a more misguided way to make decisions than to put them in the hands of those who pay no price for being wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5120739\" style=\"width: 822px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/03\/14\/HW-Photo.png\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n    Steve H. Hanke is a Professor of Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University and served on President Reagan\u2019s Council of Economic Advisers (Courtesy of Steve Hanke)<br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<h2>Trillions in New Spending<\/h2>\n<p>To date, the Biden administration has overseen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crfb.org\/blogs\/biden-administration-has-approved-48-trillion-new-borrowing\">more than $4 trillion<\/a> in new spending, of which $1.6 trillion was passed by Congress on a partisan basis, $1.4 trillion was passed on a bipartisan basis, and another $1.1 trillion came from Biden\u2019s executive actions. Despite this spending, the White House <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/omb\/briefing-room\/2023\/03\/09\/fact-sheet-strongthe-presidents-budget-cuts-the-deficit-by-nearly-3-trillion-over-10-years-strong\/\">claimed<\/a> in March that \u201cthe President\u2019s Budget improves the fiscal outlook by reducing the deficit by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) sees it differently, however.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnder the President\u2019s FY 2023 budget, the debt would grow be allowed to grow by $16 trillion over ten years, or $50,000 of debt per American citizen,\u201d the <a href=\"https:\/\/budget.house.gov\/press-release\/the-past-is-prologue-bidens-deficit-spending-record\/\">CBO reported<\/a> in March. \u201cUnder CBO\u2019s current projections, the gross federal debt would increase from $31 trillion today (123 percent of GDP) to $52 trillion (132 percent of GDP) in 2033.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProbably the worst part of Bidenomics is the enormous increase in spending,\u201d Laffer said. \u201cI never could have guessed anyone would have overspent like that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you look at the national debt-to-GDP or any other measure, it\u2019s gone way, way up,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is an egregious reversal of what would be good economics.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Tax Policy Under Biden<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cForty years of handing out excessive tax cuts to the wealthy and big corporations had been a bust,\u201d Biden stated. By contrast, Bidenomics \u201cis about building an economy from the bottom up and the middle out, not the top down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While most of the tax hikes that Biden called for have so far failed to get through Congress, critics argue that Americans have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidenomics-big-government-industrial-policy-and-centralized-control\/\" title=\"Bidenomics: Expansive Government, Industrial Strategy, and Centralized Authority\">experienced significant tax hikes nonetheless<\/a>, due to another economic phenomenon to carry the president\u2019s name: \u201cBidenflation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe inflation that has come in under Biden has pushed capital gains tax rates way up, because we have illusory capital gains that are now subject to capital gains taxation,\u201d Laffer said. Because of inflation, he said, the nominal value of assets has increased dramatically, even though in terms of purchasing power \u201cit\u2019s the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This results in a \u201ctax on the illusory capital gains,\u201d he said. Inflation has also pushed Americans into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/milton-friedmans-revenge\/\" title=\"Milton Friedman\u2019s Revenge\">higher income tax brackets<\/a>, despite the fact that wage gains often failed to keep up with rising prices, leaving Americans poorer but facing higher tax liabilities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you look at the corporate rate, it\u2019s still what it was when Trump left; and as you look at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-dems-propose-1-billion-in-subsidies-for-local-newspapers\/\" title=\"House Dems Propose  Billion in Subsidies For Local Newspapers\">personal income tax rates<\/a>, 37 percent is still the highest,\u201d Laffer said. \u201cBut if you look at all the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/analysis-bidenomics-big-government-industrial-policy-and-centralized-control\/\" title=\"Analysis: Bidenomics: Embracing Big Government, Industrial Policy, and Centralized Control.\">inflation induced tax rate increases<\/a>, they\u2019ve been quite substantial.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And this is in addition to the effective tax of inflation itself, which drives up the cost of goods and services as the dollar loses its value. Inflation was cited as the main reason why 76 percent of Americans polled in an <a href=\"https:\/\/s.wsj.net\/public\/resources\/documents\/Biden-May-2023-Topline.pdf\">Associated Press-University of Chicago survey<\/a> in May had a negative view of Biden\u2019s economic policies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s nothing that can bring the economy to its knees faster, and more damagingly, than an unhinged paper currency and high inflation,\u201d Laffer said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5007233\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/01\/24\/GettyImages-1244092440-1200x688.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n    People shop for bread at a supermarket in Monterey Park, Calif., on Oct. 19, 2022. (Frederic J. Brown\/AFP via Getty Images)<br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<p>Under Bidenomics, the White House asserts, \u201cAmerica has seen the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/home.treasury.gov\/news\/featured-stories\/the-us-economic-recovery-in-international-context-2023\">strongest growth<\/a>\u00a0since the pandemic of any leading economy in the world.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2023\/06\/13\/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-may-consumer-price-index\/\">Inflation<\/a>\u00a0has fallen for 11 straight months and has come down by more than half.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As is often the case with statistics, however, the time period you consider colors what the numbers show. While the official inflation rate, according to the consumer price index (CPI), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/273418\/unadjusted-monthly-inflation-rate-in-the-us\/\">came down<\/a> from a high of 9.1 percent in June 2022 to the current rate of about 4 percent, it remains well above pre-pandemic levels of below 2 percent.<\/p>\n<p>Many attribute escalating prices to unprecedented levels of government spending, coupled with policies that discouraged the production of oil and gas, driving up the cost of gasoline and diesel, fertilizer, food, and transportation, although the Biden administration has blamed the Russian invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>The story is similar to economic growth under Biden. After U.S. GDP fell by 2.8 percent in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and government lockdowns, America\u2019s economy roared back to a positive 5.9 percent GDP growth in 2021 once lockdowns were lifted and businesses rushed to rehire laid-off workers.<\/p>\n<p>Following this burst, however, the United States has underperformed against most other industrialized countries. While the average global GDP growth rate for 2022 was 3.1 percent, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/data.worldbank.org\/indicator\/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG?locations=US\">World Bank<\/a>, the U.S. GDP growth rate in 2022 lagged behind the rest of the world at 2.1 percent. Among \u201cleading economies,\u201d the U.K.\u2019s GDP grew by 4.1 percent; France\u2019s by 2.6 percent; Sweden\u2019s by 2.6 percent; Spain\u2019s by 5.5 percent; Mexico\u2019s by 3.1 percent; and Canada\u2019s by 3.4 percent. Germany, at 1.8 percent, was one of the few industrialized countries that underperformed the United States.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, GDP also includes government spending, which hit record levels under the Biden administration.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5179419\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/04\/07\/id5179419-jobs-employment-1395769024--1200x770.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n    A \u2018now hiring\u2019 sign in a Manhattan store in New York City on May 6, 2022. (Spencer Platt\/Getty Images)<br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<h2>Employment Remains a Bright Spot<\/h2>\n<p>According to the White House statement, \u201cunder Bidenomics, the unemployment rate\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/beta.bls.gov\/dataViewer\/view\/timeseries\/LNS14000000\">fell below 4%<\/a>,\u201d and the abundance of jobs is certainly one of the bright spots of the current economy. Here too, however, critics say there are clouds.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/fred.stlouisfed.org\/series\/CIVPART\">labor participation rate<\/a>, which is the percentage of able-bodied people seeking work, hit a high mark just above 67 percent in the year 2000. It fell to a low of 62.5 percent in 2015, before climbing back to 63.3 percent in 2020, under Trump. It then plummeted to 60 percent during the pandemic and is currently at 62.6 percent under Biden, the same level as during the Obama administration.<\/p>\n<p>Many blame an expansion of social programs and unemployment benefits for the number of Americans leaving the labor market. This also makes the unemployment rate seem lower because those not even seeking work are not counted in unemployment statistics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEncouraging people not to work has reduced the unemployment rate, that\u2019s true,\u201d Laffer said. \u201cIt\u2019s also reduced the participation rate. It\u2019s reduced both the em<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>how is it impacting the American economy?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":887,"featured_media":1964149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1964148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/887"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1964148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1964149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1964148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1964148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1964148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}