Biden-Harris senior economic adviser Gene Sperling on Monday left the White House for the presidential campaign trail on the same day American stocks plunged and fears of a recession became readily apparent.
Sperling is leaving to become a senior economic adviser to Harris’s policy team on her presidential campaign. He served Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and President Joe Biden tasked Sperling with administering the $1.9 trillion coronavirus pandemic passed in the early days of his presidency.
However, the senior economic adviser for Biden and Harris is leaving the White House at a time that major stock indexes fell sharply on Monday morning, and many have become worried that the economy is headed for a major downturn.
Breitbart News Economics Editor John Carney wrote:
The economy added just 114,000 jobs in July, according to the Department of Labor, significantly below the 180,000 forecast. Seperate surveys of business executives known as purchasing managers by the Institute for Supply Management and S&P Global both showed that factory activity had contracted in the month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.3 percent after the opening bell. The Nasdaq Composite plunged four percent. The S&P 500 fell by 3.1 percent. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-sized companies fell by 5.1 percent.
The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX)—often called the “fear index”—exploded higher. Prior to a sharp rise in Friday, the VIX had been on a 190-day streak of closing below the historical long-term average of 20, the longest stretch below the average since 2018. On Monday morning, it hit 55, the highest level since the pandemic’s worst days. [Emphasis added]
In August 2023, Harris delivered an address touting the alleged benefits of “Bidenomics:”
President Biden and I came into office with a plan to grow and strengthen America’s economy. We knew that, for far too long, our economy has not been working for working people. Entire communities have been left out and left behind. Trickle-down economics — well, it benefitted big corporations and the wealthiest of Americans but not a lot of regular folks.
So, when President Biden and I took office, we decided to invest in the working people of America, to create millions of jobs, to rebuild American manufacturing, to repair our roads and bridges, to replace every lead pipe in our nation, to connect every home with high-speed Internet, to expand clean energy production, and to make sure that every person in America — not just the wealthy or well-connected — have the opportunity to thrive.
She added, “All that, ladies and gentlemen and everyone else — that is called “Bidenomics.” (Applause.) That is called Bidenomics, and we are very proud of Bidenomics.”
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.