Popular Economics Weekly
“The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 1.4 percent in April, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Final demand prices advanced 0.7 percent in March and 0.6 percent in February. The April increase is the largest advance since rising 1.7 percent in March 2022.” BLS.gov
Trump’s economy vs. Biden’s? It’s no contest. Trump made his major reelection campaign about attacking Biden’s inflation problem, yet the latest wholesale and retail inflation data show President Biden has easily won the inflation battle, as well as that for job creation and economic growth.
The retail Consumer Price Index is the highest in three years, and the wholesale Producer Price Index pictured above is now the highest in four years on Trump’s watch.
There’s no contest with job creation and economic growth as well. A total 234,000 payrolls jobs were added in December 2024, Biden’s last month in office; more than the 181,000 jobs that were created in all of Trump’s first year.
That’s because of Trump’s mismanagement of the illegal tariff war on the rest of the world, the 43-day government shutdown over Obama insurance subsidies (longest in history) that temporally laid off millions of workers and the immigrant deportations.
The illegal tariffs began the inflation surge we are seeing today in import prices. “The 12-month rise in U.S. import prices was the largest over-the-year advance since the index increased 4.2 percent for the year ended October 2022,” per the BLS.
This will also make it even more difficult to lower interest rates in 2026 for the Federal Reserve under new Republican Chairman Kevin Warsh. In fact, the Fed may have to raise their rates if inflation continues to rise and becomes unmanageable as happened during Biden’s term.
That’s because we are not yet accounting for the damage from the Iran war that is elevating prices for all the petroleum byproducts important for jobs and economic growth that are sure to seep into the inflation numbers.
Even if the Iran war is settled soon, predictions are it may take at least one year for a return to normal traffic in the Gulf and Hurmuz Strait that supplies at least 20 percent of the world’s petroleum.
The damage to jobs and economic growth in Trump’s first year shows the extremes to which Republicans will go to ignore basic economic principles (e.g., tariffs are a tax on consumers and producers) to protect their tax cuts.
Even higher inflation is sure to follow. The energy sector is already being hit with higher gas and diesel prices The AI buildout will increase the demand for electricity as the huge AI energy generation centers kick in from the $billions being invested, while Trump continues to cancel more alternative energy solar and wind projects that provide cheaper electricity.
From the start of the Biden presidency through December 2024, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recorded an increase of about 16.1 million jobs, the highest total during a presidential term in history, equal to 336,000 per month (my emphasis).
And economic growth averaged more than 3 percent during his four years because of bipartisan plans to modernize the American economy.
What happened on Trump’s watch? Republicans have paid the economic price for refusing to compromise. America’s electorate came to believe that Republicans knew more about economic growth and what it takes to lower everyday prices for Americans.
Harlan Green © 2026
Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen
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