That darn Michael Ramirez

From the Jan. 2 editorial cartoon. (Michael Ramirez/Las Vegas Review-Journal for The Washington Post)

He didn't start the fire [Michael Ramirez]

Jack Aubert and Suzanne Richardson

Washington Post January 20 2024: A15

online at https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/01/19/biden-economy-claudine-gay-senior-fitness/

Political cartoons express political opinions, but they should stick to facts. Michael Ramirez's Jan. 2 "Burned" editorial cartoon was not particularly clever and utterly divorced from reality.

The U.S. economy was battered by the pandemic that began in 2020. Employment fell by 25 million in weeks. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a.k.a. "Bidenomics," which passed with zero Republican support, kept businesses afloat. The downside of maintaining purchasing power was that demand often exceeded supply, stretching supply chains and causing a burst of inflation. But three years later, the U.S. economy is setting records both in terms of international comparisons and our pre-covid baseline. Labor force participation is up. Inflation is close to the Federal Reserve's 2 percent target. Unemployment is near a 50-year low. Most workers' real wages have gone up. The stock market has recorded its strongest year since 2019. Most credit for this should go to Federal Reserve policies, but, on balance, Bidenomics helped.

Jack Aubert, Falls Church

I woke up the morning of Jan. 2 to the strangest cartoon by Michael Ramirez, directly in contradiction to all known facts about the state of our economy.

Inflation has fallen dramatically, gas prices are down, workers' wages are up, the stock market is soaring, and the economy is doing well. Why this cartoon? It packs a punch all right, but not where intended; instead it blows a hole in our trust of The Post.

Suzanne Richardson, Pikesville