U.S. President Joe Biden at a new semiconductor manufacturing facility in New Albany, Ohio, September 2022
Joshua Roberts / Reuters

President Joe Biden has placed his economic record at the heart of his bid for reelection. His State of the Union address in March emphasized the achievements of his administration. “I inherited an economy that was on the brink,” he said. “Now our economy is the envy of the world.” Even though polls show that many Americans are skeptical of such a claim, the data suggest that the U.S. economy is in good shape. Unemployment remains low at 3.9 percent, inflation is down to 3.5 percent from its peak of 9.1 percent in June 2022, and consumer spending is growing robustly even as

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