Some, But Not All, Economists Support Biden's Plan
The Claim
According to economists, President Joe Biden's plan will create millions of jobs and stimulate economic growth.
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Emerging story
On Wednesday, April 28, 2021, President Biden delivered his first speech to the U.S. congress. In his speech, he declared: "There’s a broad consensus of economists — left, right, center — and they agree that what I’m proposing will help create millions of jobs and generate historic economic growth."
Misbar’s Analysis
Biden unveiled a $1.9T social spending plan that could transform the role of the U.S. government. It includes free pre-K and community college, federal paid family leave, and extended tax credits. Misbar has discovered that while many economists support President Biden’s economic plans as he claimed, there are some notable critics.
For example, Dan Mitchell, a libertarian economist and former senior fellow at the Cato Institute, does not support the President’s plan. Mitchell believes President Biden is making the Keynesian argument and a mistake that the new spending is a way of stimulating the economy. According to Mitchell, Biden’s approach did not work for Hoover, Roosevelt, or Obama.
Robert O’Quinn, who most recently served as the Chief Economist at the Department of Labor, also disagrees with President Biden’s approach. According to Mr. O’Quinn in the Foundation for Economic Education, the economic recovery is already destined to happen without big spending. He believes that real GDP will reach its pre-pandemic level by the third quarter of this year, the size of the labor force will return to its pre-pandemic level in 2022, and employment will reach its pre-pandemic level by 2024.
Former treasury secretary Larry Summers, a top candidate to lead the Federal Reserve Board under President Barack Obama, is also a loud critic of Biden’s approach to reviving the pandemic-era U.S. economy. According to the Washington Post, Summers warns that the president’s stimulus plan may trigger the highest inflation in more than half a century and could cost Democrats the chance to make lasting investments in the economy.
Americans in general are also somewhat divided about Biden’s handling of the economy. In the latest NBC News Poll from April, 2021, 52% approve, but 43% of Americans disapprove.
Claiming there is broad agreement of President Biden’s economic proposal is selective, as there are some prominent economists who disagree with a big Government spending package at this time.
