THREE KEY FACTS :
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Joe Biden has announced he will end his candidacy for re-election.
The US President was one of America’s youngest senators in the 1970s, who may end up being remembered for ageing more like sour milk than fine wine.
But if you forget his gaffes for a minute, if you forget that he’s a clumsy, accident-prone octogenarian who looks and acts 10 years older and if you forget that he once confused Mexico with Egypt, America’s 46th President presided over an economy that defied pessimists and continued to grow even as its central bank pushed up borrowing costs to historic highs to fight inflation.
Here are a few of his biggest economic and foreign policy achievements.
America’s post-pandemic performance has been impressive, with the country bouncing back from lockdown faster than any other G7 nation.
The world’s biggest economy is now 8.7% larger than its pre-pandemic size. This compares with 1.7% for the UK and 3.4% for the eurozone.
The International Monetary Fund expects the US economy to grow 2.7% this year, five times the rate of the UK and ahead of any other large, rich nation.
That strong growth is predicted to be delivered against a backdrop of the highest interest rates since 2001, although many economists expect the Federal Reserve to start cutting rates before the end of this year.
Such an aggressive campaign of rate hikes has been followed by a recession eight out of nine times since 1961. But it looks like the US is likely to defy the odds once again and see a “soft landing” without an economic slump.
However, inflation remains too high for the central bank to start cutting interest rates, and Americans are still paying about 50% more to fill up their petrol tanks than they were in 2019.
In a country where almost every family outside the biggest cities owns a car, this is significant.
Much of the expansion has also been fuelled by a borrowing binge and surge in immigration that appears to have no end in sight.
The amount of money the US has to borrow to plug the gap between what the US government receives in tax revenue and what it spends on public services is estimated to be US$1.6 trillion ($2.6tr) this year alone, according to the independent Congressional Budget Office.
This is expected to push up US debt to a record of 116% of GDP in 2034, and 172% by 2054 as the country continues to live beyond its means.
More than 15 million jobs have been created under President Biden and, until recently, unemployment stood below 4% for the longest stretch in 50 years.
Official figures show the US economy added 206,000 jobs in June, slightly higher than predicted by economists.
While more Americans are in work, many of their pay packets have been hit by soaring inflation, which wiped out wage gains in real terms. This is starting to reverse, and could benefit President Biden in the polls.
However, many of the jobs have been created following a surge in immigration, an issue that has sown deep divisions in the country.
US policymakers have warned the surge could keep interest rates in the US higher for longer.
Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said a “dramatic increase in immigration” combined with demand from people working from home and years of under-building was piling pressure on the housing market.
Ensuring Americans have access to affordable healthcare is one of the Biden administration’s biggest achievements.
The share of working-age Americans who do not have health insurance has dropped from about one in five before Obamacare was signed into law, to less than 10% today.
Biden signed into law enhanced healthcare subsidies worth about US$800 ($1330) per person every year that helped to push Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrolment to an all-time high of more than 45 million people.
However, these subsidies will expire at the end of next year unless Congress extends them, making it a key election issue.
Biden helped to secure billions of dollars in fresh military aid for Ukraine this year after months of political gridlock over the issue.
US legislators in the House of Representatives finally passed a US$61 billion ($101b) support package, with Biden and officials in his administration quietly persuading the chamber’s Republican speaker, Mike Johnson, to defy Trumpists in Congress and pave the way for a vote on the issue, risking his own position in the process.
Many leaders in Europe are concerned a second term for Donald Trump in the White House would weaken financial support for Ukraine and Nato.
Trump claimed he once told allies at a meeting he would encourage Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to countries that don’t meet their defence commitments.
Joe Biden has turned government subsidies into the new normal, with his 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which devoted almost US$370 billion in grants, loans and tax credits in an attempt to attract green investment.
Critics have warned the subsidies do not provide value for money to taxpayers, although many companies have relocated their activities to the US to take advantage of the policy, which has left European economies struggling to compete.
A foreign tourist got caught in rocks in Tasmania, forcing a rescue.