Register For Our Mailing List

Register to receive our free weekly newsletter including editorials.

Home / 404

Biden is stimulating an economy already enjoying a sugar hit

Detroit’s giant carmakers were among the US businesses tottering as the GFC took hold. About 2.6 million Americans lost their jobs over the four months from when the recession erupted in September 2008 until President Barack Obama assumed office at the start of 2009. The modelling of Christina Romer, Obama’s Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, showed the then-US$15 trillion economy needed stimulus of about US$1.8 trillion to close the ‘output gap’ within two years.

How times change

But the Democrat-controlled Congress was infused with the era’s conventional wariness of budget deficits and government debt. Obama sought fiscal stimulus of only US$775 billion, though he expected the usual bartering among lawmakers to bloat the package to US$1 trillion. Republican outcries about government squandering swayed enough moderate Democrats, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of February 2009 contained only US$725 billion in new money.

The jobless rate jumped from 8.3% that February to a then-post-war high of 10% eight months later as the number of unemployed swelled by another 3.5 million people. No surprise, the Obama stimulus of 5% of GDP has gone down in Democrat folklore as a 'measly' response that was partly to blame for the party losing Congress in the 2010 elections.

President Joe Biden appears determined not to repeat the errors made when he was Vice President. Biden is implementing a stimulus package worth 9% of GDP, even though the US economy is well past crisis-mode and the output gap – the difference between the economy’s actual and potential performance – is narrowing.

Package upon package

The recovering US$22 trillion economy is enjoying a vaccine-inspired reopening. Congress had already passed four covid-19 fiscal packages worth more than US$4 trillion that are still energising spending. The jobless rate has plunged from 14.8% in April last year to 6%. Housing prices are soaring at a 12% annual clip. The Federal Reserve has pledged to maintain its ultra-loose unconventional monetary policy.

In an era when ‘magic money’ theories dismiss concerns about government debt, the American Rescue Plan entails US$1.9 trillion of fiscal stimulus that will boost the budget shortfall for fiscal 2021 to 18% of GDP. Washington’s debt load will soar from the pre-stimulus forecast of 102% of output, most likely well past the record 107% of GDP it reached around the end of World War II.

To its proponents, the inequality-fighting stimulus gives money to poorer households, extends unemployment relief, adds funds to vaccination programs, helps schools reopen and plugs gaps in the finances of local and state governments. The mostly one-off spending is popular and presaged more durable outlays such as the infrastructure plan Biden announced on March 31 that, if passed by Congress as announced, would over the next eight years entail US$2 trillion of fresh spending. Other Democrats are calling for a US$2 trillion ‘Green New Deal’ and expanding free healthcare to those aged below 65.

With US growth surging, did it need more stimulus?

As for the macroeconomics, the emergency relief prompted Fed officials to lift their US growth forecasts for 2021 from 4.2% to 6.5%, which would be the fastest pace since 1984’s result of 7.2%. Others have raised their US growth forecasts for this year to as much as 8%, a speed last matched in 1951. Unfazed by the faster growth, Fed officials offered the ‘forward guidance’ that the US cash rate would stay at near-zero in coming years.

To its critics, much of the stimulus is a superfluous ‘sugar hit’ because the economy’s spare capacity is shrinking anyway. They worry that government debt is reaching troublesome levels. This first points to higher taxes and reduced benefits in coming years – thus the package boosts intergenerational inequality while hindering growth from 2022.

The major concern is that the package is bound to lift consumer prices. Inflation, as the Fed concedes, is most likely to accelerate beyond the Fed’s 2% target, though the central bank is unruffled by any spike in inflation above target. The critics worry that the expected rise in inflation beyond 2% proves more permanent. Biden’s relief thus could backfire if it were to spark sooner- and larger-than-expected increases in official and market interest rates. Biden’s first big legislative victory shows the new President is prepared to take risks on fiscal policy that could shape the rest of his presidency.

To settle a quibble, Obama’s stimulus should be better remembered because what was one of the largest post-war stimulus programmes set up a record US expansion. More urgently, the pandemic is far from over. Mutations that nullify the vaccine would upend the economy. Yet Biden’s stimulus might make it much harder to conjure up more huge sums without political and financial ructions. As to the threat from higher prices, hasn’t the neoliberal age of ‘independent’ central banking killed inflation? The Fed can always do a U-turn and crush inflationary pressures.

Relying on low inflationary expectations

That, however, would thump the economy and upset capital markets. The most likely outcome is less threatening. In an era of low inflationary expectations and relatively weak labour bargaining power, there appears to be enough of an output gap to make it highly likely that the expected acceleration in inflation proves fleeting and Biden’s bold approach will reinforce just how cautious Obama was 12 years ago.

 

Michael Collins is an Investment Specialist at Magellan Asset Management, a sponsor of Firstlinks. This article is for general information purposes only, not investment advice. For the full version of this article and to view sources, go to: https://www.magellangroup.com.au/insights/.

For more articles and papers from Magellan, please click here.

 

  •   21 April 2021
  • 1
  •      
  •   

RELATED ARTICLES

Are debt and its servicing cost serious worries?

How the global renewables arms race will benefit Australia

Can quantitative tightening help the Fed fight inflation?

banner

Most viewed in recent weeks

Retirement income expectations hit new highs

Younger Australians think they’ll need $100k a year in retirement - nearly double what current retirees spend. Expectations are rising fast, but are they realistic or just another case of lifestyle inflation?

Four best-ever charts for every adviser and investor

In any year since 1875, if you'd invested in the ASX, turned away and come back eight years later, your average return would be 120% with no negative periods. It's just one of the must-have stats that all investors should know.

Why super returns may be heading lower

Five mega trends point to risks of a more inflation prone and lower growth environment. This, along with rich market valuations, should constrain medium term superannuation returns to around 5% per annum.

The hidden property empire of Australia’s politicians

With rising home prices and falling affordability, political leaders preach reform. But asset disclosures show many are heavily invested in property - raising doubts about whose interests housing policy really protects.

Preparing for aged care

Whether for yourself or a family member, it’s never too early to start thinking about aged care. This looks at the best ways to plan ahead, as well as the changes coming to aged care from November 1 this year.

Our experts on Jim Chalmers' super tax backdown

Labor has caved to pressure on key parts of the Division 296 tax, though also added some important nuances. Here are six experts’ views on the changes and what they mean for you.        

Latest Updates

A speech from the Prime Minister on fixing housing

“Fellow Australians, I want to address our most pressing national issue: housing. For too long, governments have tiptoed around problems from escalating prices, but for the sake of our younger generations, that stops today.”        

Taxation

Family trusts: Are they still worth it?

Family trusts remain a core structure for wealth management, but rising ATO scrutiny and complex compliance raise questions about their ongoing value. Are the benefits still worth the administrative burden?

Exchange traded products

Multiple ways to win

Both active and passive investing can work, but active investment doesn’t in the way it is practised by many fund managers and passive investing doesn’t work in the way most end investors practise it. Here’s a better way.

Economy

The Future Fund may become a 'bad bank' for problem home loans

The Future Fund says it will not be paying defined benefit pensions until at least 2033 - raising as many questions as answers. This points to an increasingly uncertain future for Australia's sovereign wealth fund.

Investment strategies

Managed accounts and the future of portfolio construction

With $233 billion under management, managed accounts are evolving into diversified, transparent, and liquid investment frameworks. The rise of ETFs and private markets marks a shift in portfolio design and discipline. 

Property

Commercial property prospects are looking up

Commercial property is seeing the same supply issues as the residential market. Given the chronic undersupply and a recent pickup in demand, it bodes well for an upturn in commercial real estate prices.

Infrastructure

Private toll roads need a shake-up

Privatised toll roads in Australia help governments avoid upfront costs but often push financial risks onto taxpayers while creating monopolies and unfair toll burdens for commuters and businesses.

Sponsors

Alliances

© 2025 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.

Disclaimer
The data, research and opinions provided here are for information purposes; are not an offer to buy or sell a security; and are not warranted to be correct, complete or accurate. Morningstar, its affiliates, and third-party content providers are not responsible for any investment decisions, damages or losses resulting from, or related to, the data and analyses or their use. To the extent any content is general advice, it has been prepared for clients of Morningstar Australasia Pty Ltd (ABN: 95 090 665 544, AFSL: 240892), without reference to your financial objectives, situation or needs. For more information refer to our Financial Services Guide. You should consider the advice in light of these matters and if applicable, the relevant Product Disclosure Statement before making any decision to invest. Past performance does not necessarily indicate a financial product’s future performance. To obtain advice tailored to your situation, contact a professional financial adviser. Articles are current as at date of publication.
This website contains information and opinions provided by third parties. Inclusion of this information does not necessarily represent Morningstar’s positions, strategies or opinions and should not be considered an endorsement by Morningstar.