Before the first debate with former President Trump, Biden’s Cabinet members concluded a two-week tour promoting the government’s economic achievements on Thursday. Recently, the Biden administration has unveiled new plans aimed at lowering the cost of living for Americans.
On Wednesday, White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden announced a new initiative to temporarily reduce out-of-pocket costs for some prescription drugs for seniors by penalizing pharmaceutical companies that increase drug prices above the inflation rate.
In 2022, the Biden administration passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which requires pharmaceutical companies to pay rebates to health insurance for certain drugs whose price increases exceed the inflation rate, and health officials will adjust the cost of qualifying drugs under the program.
On Monday, while visiting Minnesota, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced a new investment to provide $100 million over the next three years through a new fund to support financing for affordable housing and strengthen federal financing for such housing.
Yellen stated in her Monday speech, “We are facing a very serious housing supply shortage issue that has been going on for a long time. This supply tightening has led to decreased affordability.” She also praised the economic plans of the Biden administration, saying, “The U.S. economy is robust and resilient, with strong economic growth in recent quarters. The labor market is very healthy, with low unemployment rates, rising real wages, and a higher employment-to-population ratio of working-age Americans compared to before the pandemic.”
Economy often tops the list of voter priorities in national opinion polls, likely to be a core issue in the debate between Biden and Trump.
According to CNBC, in the 10 days leading up to the Thursday debate, the White House organized 29 public events with over ten government officials present to promote Biden’s economic agenda. Yellen, National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and 15 other Cabinet members and senior government officials participated in the tour.
White House spokesperson Jeremy Edwards told CNBC that the purpose of this tour was to “showcase” Biden’s economic accomplishments and that since President Biden took office, the government has been meeting with the public to highlight the work done on behalf of the American people.
During the entire tour, government officials have been promoting economic arguments that Biden and his campaign team have emphasized in recent months, likely to reappear during Thursday’s debate.
According to data released by The Conference Board, a non-profit business research organization, on Tuesday, the Consumer Confidence Index for June slightly decreased from 101.3 in May to 100.4, indicating that households felt worse about the economy this month compared to the previous month.
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor released data on “initial weekly jobless claims.” For the week ending June 22, the seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment benefits were 233,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the revised number of the previous week. However, the number of claims rose to the higher end within the range for this year, between 194,000 and 243,000.
The latest data includes the holiday last Wednesday, the Fourth of July, during public holidays, the number of applicants tends to fluctuate significantly.
On Friday morning, the Fed will release the May data for one of the inflation indicators, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, which will further examine the differing economic claims of the two presidential candidates.