Joe Biden ranks number one among U.S. presidents, going back to Jimmy Carter in 1976, based on 15 equally-weighted economic and financial measures, said Matt Winkler, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Bloomberg News. He was speaking to students of ACJ in Chennai about the economy Donald Trump inherited after he won the US Presidential elections held last year.
The media, however, is paying less attention to the data and more to Trump’s claims that the US economy is failing, said Winkler.
Biden leads in key areas, including manufacturing job growth, household debt-to-income ratios, and the performance of the bond market relative to world debt, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The media representation of Biden’s tenure was in contrast to his achievements, said Winkler.
For instance, Winkler showed the students a Bloomberg headline on Trump's inauguration ceremony titled “Trump Inaugural Speech Vows ‘Golden Age’ to Undo US Decline”.
“There are all kinds of problems with that headline. There are all kinds of problems with journalism, the fourth estate, which that headline represents,” said Winkler.
No news organisation covered the various benefits of legislation introduced by the Biden administration such the American Rescue Act, Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act, and Chips and Science Act, Winkler said.
The Chips Act enabled companies such as the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to set up shop in Arizona, which led to an increase in the average semiconductor job salary by three percentage points, higher than the national average, data showed.
Georgia, which historically was popular for forest products and agriculture, was now making electric vehicles as a result of the Inflation Reduction Act, said Winkler.
“It wasn't newsworthy, because our profession decided far more important to cover the public opinion polls,” Winkler said.
Post elections, publications like the New York Times and Time Magazine described the US economy inherited by Trump as one of the strongest economies in modern history, indicating that Biden’s strategies worked well for America.