On Monday’s broadcast of CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” White House National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard reacted to negative poll numbers on the economy by stating that “the economy is performing exceptionally well” but “people have been through a very challenging few years between the pandemic, and then the oil price spikes associated with Russia’s war. It’s going to take a while for them to feel really confident,” and most people “feel like their personal finances are better now than they were before.”
Co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin said, “Speak to this, though, because I think there [are] a lot of folks who have been waking up to headlines of poll results over the weekend, as it relates to Bidenomics versus, frankly, Trumponomics and where he stands — the president that is — compared to where…the former president stands in terms of how people are thinking about the economy and how, frankly, unhappy they remain about the economy.”
Brainard responded, “Look, if I look around the world, I don’t think there’s a leader out there who wouldn’t rather have the economic record that President Biden has today. We have been growing, 3% over the past year. We’ve had unemployment down below 4% for 21 months in a row. Real incomes are growing. Wealth — this is remarkable — wealth is up 37% for the median household since before the pandemic. And we’re growing faster and have lower inflation than any other advanced economy in the world. So, the statistics, I think, are very strong. Now, people have been through a very challenging few years between the pandemic, and then the oil price spikes associated with Russia’s war. It’s going to take a while for them to feel really confident, but if you look at surveys, 70% of Americans feel like their personal finances are better now than they were before. We’ve still got to work on kitchen table economics, there are still a lot of Americans sitting around their kitchen tables with costs of medicine, pharmaceuticals that are still too high, and we’re working on that.”
Sorkin then asked, “So, Lael, what do you do about that? Sometimes people say, well, it’s a messaging issue, and look at the numbers, and I even made the point in the last hour, that, on a relative basis, those numbers look quite good. But on a day-to-day basis, clearly, those who are participating in these polls — and I don’t know if you believe the poll results — clearly feel something very different.”
Brainard answered, “I think we have 3% growth…over the last year, and inflation is down by 60%. A year ago, a consensus of forecasters said that to get inflation where it is today, down to where it is today, you’d need to see 4.5% unemployment and no growth over the last year. So, I think the economy is performing exceptionally well. My sense is that Americans really like the president’s policies. When you survey policies like bringing insulin prices down to $35, down from $400 a month, they like that. They like bringing prescription drug prices down. They like protecting Social Security. They like a fairer tax system. So, it may take a while for Americans to feel really secure. But both the policies and the economic record are very strong.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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