The US economy and inflation are at the top of President Biden's agenda before his 2024 State of the Union address Thursday night. National Economic Council Deputy Director Daniel Hornung joins Yahoo Finance's Rachelle Akuffo to comment on Biden's progress on reining in inflation and bolstering the labor market coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"He understands that this has been a difficult few years for the American people coming out of the pandemic, and then global disruptions to energy markets and supply chains, and he has a plan to lower costs for families, to fight for a fair economy," Hornung explains. "And that plan is very different from congressional Republicans, who instead of focusing on lowering costs for middle-class families, have focused on tax cuts for the largest corporations and for the wealthiest Americans..."
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RACHELLE AKUFFO: Well, President Biden's last State of the Union address attracted around 27 million people, according to Nielsen ratings. And with a Biden-Trump rematch all but guaranteed after Super Tuesday, will Biden be able to hammer home his economic wins in a way that really resonates with the millions of voters watching?
To break this down for us, we have Daniel Hornung, National Economic Council Deputy Director. Thank you for joining us this morning. So as voters look at this consequential State of the Union here in an election year, what is President Biden going to have to hammer home in a way that will resonate more than it has already?
DANIEL HORNUNG: Well, I think this is an opportunity for President Biden to take a step back and look at, first, all the progress that we've made over the past three years. He came to office really inheriting an economic and public health crisis. And we've seen wages now higher than they were before the pandemic after accounting for inflation, wealth higher than it was, jobs much higher than they were.
And you'll also see the president talk about the work that is left to do because there is substantial work left to do to build an economy from the middle out and the bottom up as he likes to say. He'll focus on steps to lower costs for families, investments that we can make in our economy and in the American people. And he'll also talk about the fact that we need to make sure that the wealthy and large corporations are paying their fair share.
RACHELLE AKUFFO: So let's break some of that down because obviously, prices have moderated significantly. But CPI data still showing people are paying more for goods and services than they were in 2020. How will the president address this with voters who are saying inflation is still too high under his watch?
DANIEL HORNUNG: I think what you'll hear the president say is we have made real progress on bringing inflation down, as you pointed to. We've made real progress on wages and wealth growing more than inflation. But at the same time, he understands that this has been a difficult few years for the American people coming out of the pandemic and then global disruptions to energy markets and supply chains.
And he has a plan to lower costs for families, to fight for a fair economy. And that plan is very different from congressional Republicans who instead of focusing on lowering costs for middle class families, have focused on tax cuts for the largest corporations and for the wealthiest Americans.
So it will be both I think a real contrast with what we're seeing between the president and congressional Republicans and a chance to talk about just how much progress we've made in the economy in a way that folks are starting to feel if you look at things like the recent upticks in consumer sentiment.
RACHELLE AKUFFO: And Daniel, of course, it is tough. If you're the president, when things are going well, you tend to get the credit. And when they're not, you also get the blame whether or not it's something you inherited. But as you look at corporate America's role in keeping inflation up and keeping prices elevated, President Biden has mentioned this before saying, for all we've done to bring prices down, there are still too many corporations in America ripping people off. How does that tend to land though with voters who are saying at the end of the day, you're president while this is happening, and there's only so much corporations can do.
DANIEL HORNUNG: Well, it's important to talk about a couple of things here. One of the things that the president has talked about is making our economy more competitive, going after illegal and unfair practices that well predate the president's time in office. Enforcing our competition laws, that's not something that we all of a sudden need to do now. It's something that the president has long believed we need to do.
So you hear the president talk not just about what we can do to make sure that we're bringing costs down now, but also ensure that over the long run, we're building an economy that can grow and an economy that where the growth is shared and we see the benefits of economic growth flowing to workers and throwing flowing to the middle class as well.
RACHELLE AKUFFO: And Daniel, in terms of the work still left to do that you mentioned there, how do you see that affecting the economic outlook? What are some of the things that the president will hone in on in terms of what's ahead that he still needs to get completed?
DANIEL HORNUNG: Well, we've got to build a fair tax system in this country. It's unacceptable, the president thinks, that we've got a tax system where some billionaires pay a lower rate than middle class people. We've got to make sure that the largest corporations aren't able to get away with paying very little in tax. He'll focus on that tonight.
He'll also talk about some of the investments that we can make in our economy. Things like making sure that we're investing the necessary resources to expand the supply of housing in this country so that we can bring housing costs down over time. So you hear the president talk about a range of issues like that tonight.
RACHELLE AKUFFO: And I do want to ask because obviously, in an election year, we are going to likely see some campaign rhetoric in there. What should we expect there? And in terms of viewership, Yahoo Finance conducted a poll about people watching because obviously, sometimes at this point in an election year people have already dug their heels in. What sort of impact do you expect this to have on the election campaign, given people's priorities?
DANIEL HORNUNG: Well, I can't comment directly on the campaign from the White House. But what I can say is that this speech tonight will be an effort to really take a step back and meet the American people where they are, talk to them not just about the economy but a range of issues, really laying the stakes and the contrast in Washington D.C. right now.
And you won't just see the president do it tonight. You'll see this administration and this president aggressively making the case for what we need to do to build an economy from the middle out and the bottom up in the weeks ahead.
