BIDENOMICS: 3 New Data Points Showing The Economy Is A Dumpster Fire

Remember how Biden cherry-picked the most ridiculous Covid stats to make it seem like Trump had mismanaged the economy and then claimed the bounce-back from the forced lockdown as his own ‘win’?

Well, it’s a lot easier to make such wild claims at the beginning of a term than at the end of it when your policies really start to catch up with you.

Here are a few recent data points that Biden hopes the rest of us won’t notice.

Stagflation

Remember that one feature of the Carter administration that Biden has managed to duck so far? Well, it’s knocking at our door.

The latest Consumer Price Index data shows inflation is rising, moving further away from the Fed’s 2% target. And economists are forecasting new inflation data due Friday will paint a similar picture. The GDP report gave another preview of what could come.

Included in the report was an update on inflation from the prior quarter, as measured by the Fed’s preferred gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index. The latest data showed prices ticked up to a 3.4% annualized rate in the first quarter compared to 1.8% in the last quarter of 2023.

Slowing economic growth combined with rising inflation is known as stagflation. It’s among the ugliest terms to central bankers. — CNN

National Debt

Spending like drunken Marxists comes with consequences. Consequences that have toppeled empires in years gone by. Even Rome learned the hard way what happens if you devalue your currency. Your money becomes worthless, and inflation skyrockets. How do you devalue currency in a modern era of Fiat currency? You print more money and take on more federal debt. Biden had done both at a dizzying pace.

The US government’s balance sheet continues to expand at a scorching pace, with more than a quarter of a trillion dollars in debt added in two months.

New data from the Treasury Department’s Debt to the Penny system shows the country’s national debt rose from $34.297 trillion on February 21st to $34.571 trillion on April 24th.

That’s an increase of $273.859 billion in about 60 days.

The record-high US debt level comes as billionaire investor Leon Cooperman warns that the country is inching closer to a financial crisis. — Daily HODL

Bank Losses

There are bank losses and there are bank losses. This particular flavor of bank losses tells us more about the fragile status of the average consumer’s financial state than it does about the banking industry itself.

The two largest banks in the US are declaring a loss on $4.5 billion in debts that customers are unable to pay.

JPMorgan Chase says its net charge-offs, which are debts that the bank does not expect to receive, hit $2 billion in the first quarter of this year, reports Reuters.

That’s nearly twice the amount of unrecoverable debt compared to the same quarter last year.

Meanwhile, Bank of America reported $1.5 billion in net charge-offs, a surge from $807 million a year prior.

BofA says those losses stem mainly from credit card debt that will likely never be paid.

“Bank of America is seeing ‘cracks’ in the finances of borrowers with below-prime credit scores whose household spending is affected by higher interest rates and inflation, Chief Financial Officer Alastair Borthwick told analysts on an earnings call… — DailyHODL