This is the transcript of President Biden's speech on the economy:I’m here in Chicago today, for the first quarter of the 21st century, to talk about the economic vision for this country: the economy that grows the economy from the middle out and the bottom up instead of just the top down. When that happens, everybody does well. The wealthy still do — (applause) — everybody does well. The poor have a ladder up, and the wealthy still do well. We all do well.
This vision is a fundamental break from the economic theory that has failed America’s middle class for decades now. It’s called trickle-down economics — fundamental economics, trickle-down. The idea was — it’s the belief that we should cut taxes for the wealthy and big corporations — and I know something about big corporations; there’s more corporations in Delaware incorporated than every other state in the union combined. I want them to do well, but I — I’m tired of waiting for the trickle-down. It doesn’t come very quickly. Not much trickled down on my dad’s kitchen table growing up.
And it’s a belief that we should shrink public Investment in infrastructure and public education — shrink it; that we should let good jobs get shipped overseas. And we actually have a tax policy that encourages them to go overseas to save money. We should let big corporations amass more power while making it harder to join a u- — a union.
I meant what I said when I said I’m going to be the pro- — the most pro-union President in American history. And I make no apologies for it. (Applause.)
My predecessor — if my mom were here — and God bless his soul — my predecessor enacted the latest iteration of a failed — the failed theory. Tax cuts for the wealthy. It wasn’t paid for, and the estimated cost of his tax cut was $2 trillion. Two trillion dollars.
Now Republicans are at it again, pushing for tax cuts for large corporations and the wealthy and adding trillions of dollars to the deficit. Trillions.
Folks, let me say this as clearly as I can: The trickle-down approach failed the middle class. It failed America. It blew up the deficit. It increased inequity. And it weakened the in- — our infrastructure. It stripped the dignity, pride, and hope out of communities one after another, particularly through the Midwest, Western Pennsylvania, and heading west.
People working as hard as ever couldn’t get ahead because it’s harder to buy a home, pay for a college education, start a business, retire with dignity.
The first time in a generation, the path of the middle class seemed out of reach. And I don’t think it’s hyperbole; I think it’s a fact no matter whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, or an independent.
I knew we couldn’t go back to the same failed policies when I ran, so I came into office determined to change the economic direction of this country, to move from trickle-down economics to what everyone in the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times began to call “Bidenomics.”
I didn’t come up with the name. (Laughter.) I really didn’t. I now claim it, but they’re the ones that used it first.
I got asked by a press person this morning, getting on the helicopter in Washington, why — “When I asked you about Bidenomics a long time ago, you said you didn’t know what it was.” I said, “I didn’t name it Bidenomics. I didn’t realize the economists in the Wall Street journal did.” But I think it’s a plan that I’ll — I’m happy to call it “Bidenomics.” (Laughs.) (Applause.)
And guess what? Bidenomics is working. When I took office, the pandemic was raging and our economy was reeling, supply chains were broken, millions of people unemployed, hundreds of thousands of small businesses on the verge of closing after so many had already closed — literally, hundreds of thousands on the verge of closing.
Today, the U.S. has had the highest economic growth rate, leading the world economies since the pandemic. The highest in the world. (Applause.)
As Dick said, with his help, we created 13.4 million new jobs. More jobs in two years than any president has ever — (applause) — made in four — in two.
And, folks, it’s no accident. That’s Bidenomics in action. Bidenomics is about building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down. And there are three fundamental changes that we decided to make with the help of Congress and been able to do it: first, making smart investments in America; second, educating and empowering American workers to grow the middle class; and third, promoting competition to lower costs to help small businesses.
Here’s what I mean by all this. Under trickle-down economics, it didn’t matter where you made things, as long as you helped the company’s bottom line, even if that meant seeing jobs and industries go overseas for cheaper labor. Supply chains and key products moved overseas, like China and mu- — much of Asia. The entire towns and communities, from where I lived all the way out there and through the Midwest, were shut down, hollowed out. I mean literally hollowed out.
All over the country, parents have to say to their — and many of you and all elected officials heard people tell you this — had to say to their children, “Honey, I lost my job. We can’t live here anymore. We’ve got to move.”
Trickle-down also meant slashing public investment on things that helped drive long-term growth and helped America lead the world in innovation. We used to invest 2 percent of our gross domestic product in research and development. By the time I came to office, that was down to 0.7 percent.
We used to be number one in the world in research and development. That’s what we were known for. Now we rank number nine in the world. China, decades ago, was number eight in the world. Now it’s number two in the world. And other nations are closing in fast.
We used to have the best infrastructure in the world — roads, bridges, et cetera — but then we fell to thirt- — rated 13th best inters- — investment in infrastructure. Two to thirteen. How can you have the best economy in the world without the best infrastructure in the world? How do you get product from one place to another?
I was out in Pittsburgh recently, the “City of Bridges” — bridges collapsing all over the nation. You’ve seen on television railroad bridges collapsing.
Bidenomics. We’re turning this around. We’re supporting targeted investments. We’re strengthening America’s economic security, our national security, our energy security, and our climate security.
I designed and we signed a Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. It’s already announced — and you — I heard some of the speakers before touting some of it. It’s already announced 35,000 projects across the country.
Think of it this way: Nearly a century ago, Franklin Roosevelt’s Rural Electrification Act — Rural Electrification — brought electricity to millions of Americans in rural America. Seventy years ago, Dwight Eisenhower launched the Interstate Highway System, the largest infrastructure project to date in history.
That’s what the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law does. It will be for our kids and grandkids, only bigger.
Just last week, we announced our plan to bring affordable high-speed Internet to end a decade of — that — of unaffordable and un- — inaccessible Internet to every home in America, every small business in America.
And to no one’s surprise — (applause) — and to no one’s surprise, it’s bringing along converts. People strenuously opposed, voting against it when we had this going. They were — this was going to “bankrupt America.”
Well, there’s a guy named Tuberville from Ala- — a senator from Alabama, who announced that he strongly opposed the legislation. Now he’s hailing its passage. Here’s what he said: Quote, “It’s great to see Alabama receive critical funds to boost ongoing broadband efforts.” (Laughter.)
(The President makes the sign of the cross.) (Laughter.)
We’re replacing every single lead pipe in this country and putting our healther- — our children’s health back directly — (applause) — 400,000 schools, 10 million homes. We’re fixing crumbling bridges, upgrading our power grid, renovating our airports and ports.
And, Dick, you’re — or one of you talked about that, how important that is for the Great Lakes as well.
Anyway, last week we reopened I-95, back where I live. And you go up the East Coast — it’s one of the most important lengths in the entire East Coast. Well, guess what? Less than — we — a guy driving a truck hit a ba- — anyway, he knocked down a whole bridge, and the whole — blocked four lanes of the highway.
I went up there, and I said, “We’re going to get this, the number one project, to get done.” Within one week of my being there, two weeks of it happening, tanker trucks that crashed and caused this overpass that — that has 150,000 vehicles travel on it every day and 14,000 trucks.
It’s critical to our economy. We did it with union workers. (Applause.) We closed all the loopholes. We used all American products, all American materials. We used federal infrastructure project, made in America. Made in America. Not a slogan; it’s actually happening.
You know, when Roosevelt passed the legislation in the ‘30s about unions being able to be engaged, everybody thinks he just legalized unions. It said we should encourage unions. There was a little provision there that very few presidents paid attention to. It said, “Buy American.” That meant that if a president was given money by the Congress to build, say, a new deck in an aircraft carrier, or whatever it was, he or she was supposed to use 100 percent American labor and 100 percent American products. It hardly happened. They’d get exceptions down to 30 percent, et cetera.
I changed all that. We’re now investing in key industries of the future, making targeted investments to promote domestic production of semiconductors, batteries, electric cars, clean energy.
Under the trickle-down economic theory was that public investment would discourage private investment. Give me a break. (Laughter.)
We went to see a whole lot of major corporations and said, “Are you more or less likely to invest if the government invests?” Overwhelmingly — they had it backwards — they said, “No, we’re more likely to invest if the government invests.”
Public investment declined here at home. Industries that we invented started to move overseas, like semiconductors. I want to remind you: America invented these chips — small computer chips the size of the tip of your finger that affect nearly everything in your life, from whether your cellphone functions, your automobiles fu- — can be built, refrigerators work. It goes on and on — and to sophisticated weapons systems.
It’s all in that little com- — without that computer chip, we got a real problem. But over time, we went from producing 40 percent of those world’s chips down to 10 percent. Not anymore.
Biden economics means the industries of the future are going to grow right here at home. At home. (Applause.) I mean it. Not a joke.
Under Bidenomics, we’ve already had over $490 billion in private investment commitments — $490 billion — from U.S. companies and companies around the world coming to the United States of America.
Working with our global partners, America’s investments in clean energy technology are going to reduce carbon emissions, continue to lower the cost of wind — you talked about the wind farms you’re talking about. You know, it’s already cheaper. Wind and solar are already significantly cheaper than coal and oil. You’re not going to see anybody building a new coal-fired plant in America, not just because I — I’d like to pass a law to say that. It’s too expensive. It doesn’t work anymore. Solar power is not just here but around the world.
And we used to be the center of building these solar panels. We’re coming back and doing it again. America is going to lead again. (Applause.)
Look, it’s a win for the United States and a win for the world that builds on my decision to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement on the first day I came to office. The first day. (Applause.)
And, by the way, my predecessor talked a lot about increasing manufacturing. Remember “Infrastructure Week”? Infrastructure Week became Infrastructure Week and week and week and week and week. It never happened. (Laughter.)
We got Infrastructure Decade done right off the bat. (Applause.)
But in reality, construction of manufacturing facilities here on U.S. soil grew only 2 percent on my predecessor’s watch in four years. Two percent. On my watch, it’s grown nearly 100 percent in two years — 100 percent — (applause) — with the help of all the members of Congress who are here. And I’m not being solicitous.
Look — Weirton, West Virginia: It used to — where a steel mill closed in the beginning of this century — in 2001 or -02, in that range. It employed thousands — it had thousands of good-paying jobs that were lost.
But today, with the help from the Inflection [sic] Reduction Act — Inflation Reduction Act, a new plant is being built, building iron-air batteries, which are going to help store energy. These batteries are going to help store energy. And it’s being built on the same exact site, bringing back 750 good-paying jobs, bringing back a sense of pride and hope for the future, for all the people or Weirton and surrounding areas.
I believe every American willing to work hard should be able to say where they grew up and stay where they grew up. That’s Bidenomics.
You know, my dad used to have an expression. He’d say, “Joey…” — and I give you my word. He’d say — my dad was a well-read guy, never got to go to college, and a hardworking gentleman.
We had dinner at — where we incidentally had conversation and incidentally ate. My dad used to say, “Remember, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck.” And I mean this; I give you my word. He would say, “A job is about lo- — a lot more than a paycheck, Joey. It’s about your dignity. It’s about pride. It’s about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, ‘Honey, it’s going to be okay.’”
Think about it. I mean literal sense, think about that. It’s about your dignity, how you’re treated, and being able to make a living and you can tell your kids it’s going to be okay.
The second big part of Bidenomics is empowering American workers.
When I took office, unemployment was over 6 percent. With the American Rescue Plan, we’ve provided relief and support directly to working-class families. Our economy came roaring back. Unemployment dipped below 4 percent by the end of my first year in office. Now it’s been below 4 percent for the longest stretch in 50 years in American history. (Applause.)
And I must admit I concentrated on it, but we’ve seen, with the help of Jesse Jackson’s legacy and a lot of other people here, we’ve seen record-low unemployment for African Americans — record-low unemployment for African Americans — and Hispanic workers with disabilities.
The lowest unemployment rate in 70 years for American women, and you make up half the economy and probably two thirds of the brains. (Applause.) No, really, think about it.
To pause for a second: When I was trying to get — name me a time when you thought any Democrat would get the endorsement — every en- — within a week, every single environmental group out there, the AFL-CIO, the women’s groups.
I mean, here’s the deal: When I sat with the AFL-CIO, when I sat with the IBEW — starting when I ran last time — I said, “Here’s the deal, though: I’m going to be the most pro-American — most pro-union president in history, but you’ve got to employ more women, you’ve got to attract more African Americans, and you’ve got to attract more minorities.” They have; they’re going now. It’s beginning to change. (Applause.)
In every industry, from — anyway, I’m — I go to these sites where they’re training — by the way, the other thing I’ve told labor guys: You’ve got to brag a little more about what you do. Do you realize to get a license to be an electrician in this town or any other you’ve got to essentially go to four years of college? You have to go through an apprenticeship that takes you four years to five depending — or you can’t get a job. You get paid a little bit, but you can’t get your license to be an electrician, a labor electrician, until that happens.
Look, pay for low-wage workers has grown at the fastest pace in over two decades. Full employment means workers, especially low-wage workers, have even more bargaining power to demand good pay, to secure good jobs.
And this is the thing that isn’t consistent with whether people think that we’re moving in the right direction: Job satisfaction, based on every poll, is at a 36-year high. More people are satisfied with their jobs than any time in 36 years.
And the shame [sic] of working-age Americans in the workforce — the share of them — the share of them is the highest it’s been in 20 years. Remember what they were saying? “Biden’s policy isn’t working. He’s just paying people not to work, people on the sidelines.” Well, guess what? Every single day in four years before I took office — you may remember, I took a lot of criticism in my presidency. Republicans charged me with encouraging people to stay home and not work. Well, they were wrong.
The evidence is clear: Americans are back to work who’ve been on the sidelines, and they want to come back.
And we’re going to continue this progress by making sure every American has the training and education to participate in this new economy.
We’ve increased Pell Grants and made landmark investments in historic Black universities.
We’ve invested more in registered apprenticeships and center — and career technology education programs than any previous administration in American history.
Because of this new economy, we don’t need everyone to have a four-year degree. It’s great if you can get one; we’re trying to make it easier for you to get one. But you don’t need it to get a good-paying job anymore.
Think of this: How many of you remember going back to high school and they had shop class, and they had classes where people can learn if they were interested in working with their hands? They don’t have them very much anymore, anywhere around the country.
Well, my wife teaches at a community college, full-time, still. She has an expression; she says, “Any country that outcompetes us, that out” — excuse me — “that out-educates us will outcompete us.” We’re not going to let that happen.
That’s why we’re investing significantly in education.
I’m determined to keep fighting for universal pre-K and free community college.
We’re also fighting to make — (applause) — we’re also fighting to make childcare more affordable because we know one benefit is that it opens up significant opportunities for parents to be able to go back and join the workforce. (Applause.)
We’re also making it easier to empower workers by making it easier to join a union.
As I said, I promised to be the most pro-union president in history. And I tell business leaders all the time: Our union workers are the best in the world.
It takes four to five years at an apprentice. It’s like going to college. They’ll do the right job on time. Long-term costs for businesses is less.
You know, addressing the 40-year decline in unionization by supporting project labor agreements, collective bargaining, prevailing wage laws, that’s the reason today Americans’ support of unions is higher than it’s been in 60 years — 60 years. (Applause.)
And, by the way, I met with the Business Roundtable and others. They said, “Why am I so pro-union?” And I said, “Because it helps you.” It really does. Think about it.
The total cost of a major project goes down when you have the best workers in the world doing it. Not a joke. It’s true. It lasts longer. You don’t have to worry about whether that — that socket is going to work.
Look, young people are organizing in new companies and industries. You know, I’ve — I’ve indicated labor — to labor leaders they must expand their ranks. As I said: more women, more minorities. That’s what they’ve got to do.
The third part of Biden economics is promoting competition. Because when companies have to compete on a level playing field, they have to work harder to attract customers and recruit and retrain workers. Some of you businesspeople in here know that well.
But under the trickle-down economic thr- — theory, three quarters of U.S. industries grew more con- — concencra- — I mean — excuse me —
Well, that may have been things — made things easier for big corporations. But for everybody else, it made it harder and more expensive. It got harder for bus- — small businesses to compete. It stifled
So, folks, that’s been the Republican plan so far. Good for big business. Bad for everybody else. It’s not even that good for big business anymore.
When I came to office, it was a very different plan: a limited
My administration is working to crack down on what we used to call “non-compete agreements.” We still call them that.
These prevent 30 million Americans — from security guards to retail workers — from walking across the street to a same kind of business and getting a higher pay — getting 5 bucks more a week or 10 bucks more a week.
Non-compete agreements. It’s one thing to have non-compete agreements when you’re dealing with trade secrets. It’s another thing when you’re doing the same thing of flipping a hamburger, and you’re going to get five cents more by walking across the street to a different place.
We also — we’ve promoted and we’re supporting small businesses. You know, Vice President Harris has pri
