In an editorial by Jennifer Rubin of The Washington Post called “Opinion: Biden gets an early Christmas gift: Good economic news,” she discusses the good economic news hearing into 2022. In excerpts below, she cites The Wall Street Journal and The Conference Board to support her claim.
“Presidents have some control over fiscal policy, but markets, the Federal Reserve and, yes, the state of the pandemic have a lot more say on how the economy is performing. Nevertheless, if President Biden can be bashed for bad economic news during his presidency (e.g., inflation), then he also should get some credit for successes. And right now, there is plenty for him to crow about.
Heading into the new year, the economy looks in better shape than Biden’s legislative agenda. The Wall Street Journal reports: ‘A booming U.S. economy is rippling around the world, leaving global supply chains struggling to keep up and pushing up prices. The force of the American expansion is also inducing overseas companies to invest in the U.S., betting that the growth is still accelerating and will outpace other major economies.‘
With a projected 7 percent annualized growth rate for the fourth quarter, the United States is running circles around Europe and China. That relative strength against the rest of the world, reflected in a strong dollar that lowers the cost of imports for U.S. consumers, matters greatly.
The economy grew 2.3 percent in the third quarter (higher than the expected 2.1 percent). Moreover, for all the talk of inflation and the pandemic, consumer confidence is through the roof. ABC News reports: ‘The Conference Board, a business research group, said Wednesday that its consumer confidence index — which takes into account consumers’ assessment of current conditions and their outlook for the future — rose to 115.8 in December, the highest reading since July.‘
…Furthermore supply chain woes are showing signs of abating. As Biden said at a meeting on Wednesday with his supply chain task force, “Packages are moving, gifts are being delivered and shelves are not empty.” He was also able to point to concrete steps his administration has taken to address the issue, such as obtaining the ports’ agreement to operate 24/7.“
The full editorial can be linked to below. Rubin’s first point about presidents getting too much credit and blame for the economy is a good one. Yet, they do provide headwinds and tailwinds, usually a little of both. Biden’s predecessor inherited an economy that was in its 91st consecutive month of economic growth in January 2017 with six consecutive years of 2 million plus annual job growth. To his credit, it continued and was lifted some by a temporary sugar rush of the corporate tax cut in 2018, before falling back to previous levels after the sugar rush waned. Once the pandemic hit, all bets were off and we retrenched.
Biden and Trump invested in stimulus payments to get the economy going providing money to spend. And, it helped tide us over until more of us started working. Was it the best use of funds? Arguably. Some contended we should have provided the subsidies to employers to keep people employed. I would preferred to have seen that, as people would still be tethered to their job. The recently passed Infrastructure Bill will provide some additional tailwinds as would the Build Back Better bill that is still waylaid.
Inflation is of course a concern. Yet, politicos like to highlight bad news when their tribe is not in charge and lessen the focus on good news. In addition to the new COVID strain, what gives me pause is the stock market continues to remain at record high levels. The question is how long can it remain there? If you know that, you are way ahead in the game.
musingsofanoldfart 
If 45 could claim credit for anything good that happened during his time, then 46 should do the same. I can’t help thinking that things would be better if the GOP chose to be constructive rather than destructive, but they are probably too busy getting rich from stock market gains to even care.
Clive, you might recall during the 2016 campaign, candidate Trump claimed the unemployment rate was misrepresented. It was not 5%, it was an increasingly higher number based on when he said it – 30%, 32%, 40%, even as high as 42%. Then, he is sworn in and it is miraculously 5% again. Look what I did he said. If people want to give Trump credit for the economy early on, then they must also sing praise to Obama, which they do not want to do. Keith
I don’t think anyone with two brain cells to rub together believes anything Trump says. Oh for an age when bipartisan politics were possible.
Clive, I agree. Believing anything Trump says is a fool’s errand. Yet, we have people on trial (and a few who have been sentenced) who stormed the Capitol Building because they believed Trump’s Big Lie that the election was stolen from him. Keith
God news , indeed.
I agree.
The effect of the pandemic on the economy has been fascinating to me. Who would have thought we’d have 4 million people quit their jobs due to related issues from child care to job dissatisfaction? Who would have thought wages and benefits would go up? Who would have thought there’s be inflation? And I know I never thought of supply chain issues. Now we have folks leaving their jobs due to stress due to being understaffed which creates more stress because there’s more understaffing! Now we can really use those immigrants!
Becky, you unpacked a lot of issues. The demand for goods based on available capital is driving up prices since supply is lagging. That is driving up inflation. People quitting jobs is interesting and it has led to others leaving due to the short staff as you note. It seems every restaurant, retailer or service provider is hiring. You are right on the need for immigrants to backfill jobs. Thanks, Keith
Economics appears to be similar to the weather. You know it’s there, but it is fearfully hard to make an exact forecast.
And like the weather can change with a snap of the allegorical fingers.
I wonder if it is really controllable or to use the weather comparison, only navigable?
Navigable is the better word.