Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Monday that she believes "it's our job" to explain to voters what President Joe Biden has done to address the economy, which many voters believe is not doing well.
Yellen was asked about recent polling data that found 59% of voters under the age of 30 would rate the current state of the economy as "poor." The United States economy, and Biden's approach to addressing it, is one of several topics many voters have expressed frustration on heading into 2024, when Biden seeks reelection.
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"I think it’s our job to explain to Americans what President Biden has done to improve the economy," Yellen said on CNBC. "I think as inflation comes down, prices stop rising, and the labor market remains strong, Americans will begin to see that we have made meaningful progress. And importantly, the administration is making investments in America that will show up in improved conditions and more availability of good jobs in many parts of the country that have not seen a lot of progress."
The secretary went on to state that the Biden administration has announced over $500 billion in manufacturing investing, some of which is starting to "come to fruition." She added that more voters will feel "more hopeful about our prospects" over time.
Yellen also stated that the U.S. needs to plan out a fiscally sustainable path regarding spending and taxation and pointed to how Biden has signed several bills to address this. The bills in question will result in $1 trillion of deficit reduction over the next 10 years, according to the secretary.
"We’ve had responsible investments in the U.S. economy that will have a payoff, and we’ve provided additional money to the Internal Revenue Service, which will have an enormous payoff in closing the $7 trillion tax gap that we have in the United States," Yellen said. "We’re simply not collecting the taxes that people owe, and this will have a huge payoff as well."
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The state of the economy, and voters' view on it, could potentially be a bump in the road for Biden's path to reelection in 2024 as some Democrats are questioning if the president has the ability to win the election next year. Democratic strategist David Axelrod claimed over the weekend that Biden has "a 50-50 shot" at winning reelection, but his chances are "no better than that, maybe a little worse."
Other Democrats have brushed off these concerns, including Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), who pointed to the election results from 2022 and 2023 as good news for Democrats next year. Coons argued that the Democratic Party's performance in recent elections, which have been better than anticipated, is "rooted" in Biden's accomplishments as president.