The billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban isn’t running for president this year, but he is worried that Americans will put too much emphasis on the economy when choosing between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
When asked what he wished more people understood about the economy, especially during an election year, he wrote in an email, “how little impact any president has.”
“It’s the 330 million of us that move the economy, not one person,” he wrote.
The president’s influence on the economy is often overstated
Americans view the economy’s health as one of the major issues the president and Congress should tackle this year.
In a poll of 5,140 American adults conducted in January by the Pew Research Center, 73% of those who completed the survey said “strengthening the economy” should be a top priority for the president and Congress in 2024, the highest percentage for any response in the poll.
President Joe Biden.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Experts rarely mention presidential policy when looking at the issues that most impact the economy moving forward. Rather, the factors that have the biggest impact are interest rates, jobs, and consumer spending.
Interest rates are influenced by the Federal Reserve, and while rates are still higher than the Fed’s target, the decision on when to cut rates is strongly influenced by the job market and consumer spending, both of which remain strong.
Ultimately, the Fed must walk that fine line between consumers spending too little, which hurts businesses, and spending too much, which can cause inflation. Spending and hiring are factors that the American people control rather than the president.
To be sure, there are ways that government policy can impact the issues that affect interest rates. For example, tariffs can affect the success of businesses, which in turn impacts hiring and can also influence how much money is being spent by Americans if prices on goods change.
Former President Donald Trump.
Scott Eisen/Getty Images
The economy is still chugging along, but many Americans still don’t feel great about it because interest rates and prices are still high. But that shouldn’t influence their voting decisions this fall.
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