White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declared Monday: “We believe Reaganomics doesn’t work,” taking on the record of President Ronald Reagan, who ended a recession and brought rapid economic growth.
Jean-Pierre was responding to a question by a reporter at the White House press briefing, who asked about the use of the term “Bidenomics,” which the Biden team has begun using in an effort to tout his economic policies.
The press secretary attacked what she called “trickle-down economics,” which was a theory popular with some conservative economists who advised Reagan, holding that tax cuts for the highest earners would benefit all.
When Reagan took office, the top marginal federal income tax rate was 70%. He cut it to 50% — a bigger cut than Donald Trump would later enact — and signed more tax reforms over the two terms of his presidency.
The tax cuts were not the only reason that the U.S. economy took off under Reagan, but the economy certainly did expand, setting the stage for further growth in the 1990s, and inaugurating an era of broad prosperity.
Reagan’s economic policies did not only benefit the rich; they were so successful, in fact, that many Democrats supported Reagan when he cruised to reelection in a landslide in 1984, leaving the far left fuming in defeat.
Today, “trickle-down economics” is a pejorative term, used by the left to dismiss Reagan-era prosperity and to refer broadly to Republican policies — even when, as under Trump, they primarily benefit the middle class.
After Jean-Pierre finished her answer, the reporter pointed out that Reagan has been rated as one of America’s top ten presidents, and inaugurated an age of prosperity. She continued attacking “trickle-down economics.”
The Biden economy has been characterized by low unemployment but also persistent, high inflation, which began almost immediately after Biden took office and began signing massive federal spending bills.
The White House has tried to claim credit for the country’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandmic, ignoring the fact that the recovery began under Trump despite severe lockdowns by Democrat-run states.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.