- By Aditeya Das
As the pandemic wreaks havoc on global industry and the economy, yet another country has fallen victim to its powers. By November 2021 US inflation had reached a near four-decade record with the CPI rising by 6.8 %, placing strain on US citizens. Prices of goods for both staples and consumer goods such as food and new vehicles have gone up by 5.4 % and 9.8% respectively, with the cause being attributed to a culmination of rising consumer demand and pandemic related supply constraints. US President Joe Biden, who has not even faced one full year of President is facing public backlash due to this and on December 12th, 2021 faced his lowest ever approval ratings. Biden and the Federal Reserve have, however, stated that such disruption is transitory, although many critics beg to differ.
COVID-19 caused massive destruction of supply chains globally. Supply chains are networks between firms and their suppliers to manufacture and distribute goods to the final consumers. Although most of these networks are overseas and spread across multiple geographical regions, lockdowns, illness, and fluctuating international border status have all led to disruptions in these supply chains, causing shortages for consumers. A current example would be automobiles. Due to supply chains regarding cars having been cut, there was a massive shortage of cars in the United States. This has directly impacted inflation with prices skyrocketing, some of them almost reaching levels from when Jimmy Carter was President. Biden however, did not handle the situation, letting it get out of hand and reach alarming levels depleting his approval ratings.
The other aspect of this is unemployment. According to Pew Research Centre, unemployment in the US, “rose higher in the first 3 months of COVID-19 than it did in 2 years of the great recession”. This level of unemployment is partly because of the impact of COVID-19 on the laying-off of workers, but also because of “The Great Resignation”, where around 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in just September 2021. The great resignation started in the early parts of 2021,with many rethinking their careers and goals and consequently leaving their jobs. Despite this mass scale unemployment, Biden did not institute any policies to control this and therefore received some criticism from his critics.
In addition to this, Biden has allowed states in the US to change their levels of unemployment insurance enraging many workers. Such dissent resulted in labor shortages, spiking up wages and directly contributing to US inflation and even public reproval of the President.
So why are Biden’s approval ratings so low? Unemployment and rising prices are only half the story, with republican politics being a factor of greater prevalence. The current economic instability provides the prime avenue for political manipulation which garners greater support from the masses. Through the criticism of the president’s economic policy and infrastructure bills (valued at 1 trillion dollars), the republican party has garnered great amounts of support from the masses.
But all is not dull and gloomy for the Biden administration. Experts see the signs of worldwide supply chains rebounding providing an optimistic outlook for the future of US politics. A subsiding unemployment rate to 4.2% once again insinuates that Biden’s approval ratings may be destined to rise again. However, with the current worldwide instability, the next few months will be essential to see if Biden’s nightmare has any signs of ending.
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