CNN
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President Joe Biden will leave the White House with a strong economy, historic gains in the job market, a foundation for future manufacturing growth, and having brought down decades-high inflation without triggering a recession.
Those feats, economists say, are even more impressive considering the nation was deep in the throes of a deadly, economy-scarring pandemic when Biden took office.
His legacy will also include higher national debt, a wider trade deficit and steeper costs for housing, health care, higher education and child care.
“[The $36 trillion national debt] is a significant burden for future economic growth, a significant burden for the well-being of our children and grandchildren, because it’s a big, big sword hanging over them,” Andreas Hauskrecht, clinical professor of business economics and public policy at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. “And in that regard, my evaluation of the Biden administration is fiscally irresponsible. Am I saying [President-elect Donald Trump’s first] administration was better? No. Am I saying I think the new Trump 2.0 will be better? No. But when I look at Biden’s fiscal record, he failed the class.”
And then there’s the high cost of living.
While most economists agree that Biden was not to blame for…
