How did the American economy tank under Joe Biden?

1. Economic headline: growth and jobs mostly recovered, even expanded

By conventional macro metrics the U.S. rebounded strongly: real GDP climbed after the pandemic and sources report cumulative real growth in the Biden years that outpaced many peers, while firms added millions of jobs—over 6 million in 2021 alone and roughly 16.6 million during the presidency—making the pandemic-era jobs recovery historic ^{[2] [6] [1]}. The White House and Treasury highlighted that the U.S. achieved robust growth and employment creation compared with other advanced economies ^{[7] [4]}.

2. The central failure: inflation and lost purchasing power

The era’s clearest blemish was inflation: consumer prices rose roughly 21.5% over Biden’s term in final tallies, with gasoline up about 31%, and after adjusting for inflation private‑sector average weekly earnings fell about 4%, meaning workers’ real paychecks shrank ^[3]. That combination—fast price increases alongside nominal gains in employment—created the political sense that "things were worse," even as headline employment statistics looked strong ^{[3] [8]}.

3. What economists say caused the inflation spike

Analysts point to multiple, interacting causes: the pandemic created extreme supply‑chain disruptions and mismatches between demand and supply; large fiscal stimulus during and after the crisis increased demand; and monetary accommodation during that period also mattered—so responsibility is distributed among pandemic shocks, policy responses across administrations, and central bank timing ^{[3] [5]}. The Treasury’s counterargument is that tighter policy to force inflation lower would have required much higher unemployment, implying tradeoffs policymakers sought to avoid ^[4].

4. Administration policy choices that mattered—intentional gains and tradeoffs

Biden policies deliberately prioritized rebuilding industry and reshoring critical supply chains—Chips Act, green energy incentives and industrial policy spurred manufacturing investment and a net gain in factory jobs, which proponents cite as durable gains ^{[7] [6]}. Critics counter that stimulus measures, even if targeted, contributed to overheating and inflation; partisan analyses and institutional reports emphasize different elements depending on their agendas ^{[9] [3]}.

5. The political and perceptual dimension: why recovery felt like decline

Beyond raw numbers the politics of pocketbook issues mattered: inflation hit essentials and lower‑income households hardest, consumer confidence sagged, and approval ratings reflected a perception of unaffordability that political opponents leveraged—so the economy could look both "strong" in aggregate data and "bad" to voters at the checkout line ^{[8] [6]}. Media and partisan narratives amplified selective metrics, and both administrations before and after left legacies—debt rose substantially under both Trump and Biden, complicating attribution ^{[5] [10]}.

6. Bottom line: not a collapse, but a mixed record with lasting tradeoffs

Empirical evidence in the reviewed reporting does not support a simple story that the American economy "tanked" under Biden; instead it shows a robust post‑pandemic expansion marred by unusually high inflation that cut real wages and strained household budgets, the result of pandemic shocks, prior and current policy choices, and monetary dynamics—interpretations vary by source and political lens ^{[1] [3] [4]}. Where the record is thin or disputed, reporting notes the limits: long‑term effects of industrial policy and the exact counterfactual of tighter policy remain debated among economists and partisan actors ^{[7] [5]}.