How Biden can embrace 'Bidenomics

President Biden used to be leery of the term "Bidenomics"' and once joked: "I don't know what the hell that is."

But last week, he embraced that shorthand for his economic agenda - albeit on his own terms, and ones that are most favorable to his reelection campaign. Speaking Wednesday in Chicago, he defined Bidenomics as the reversal of four decades of "trickle-down economics" that prioritized the interests of the wealthy over the middle class.

As the president describes it, his philosophy is built on three pillars: massive public investments, from bridges to broadband; helping workers secure good-paying jobs by boosting unionization aid requiring products to be made in the United States; and promoting competition, by limiting noncompete agreements, junk fees and prescription drug costs - while vigorously enforcing antitrust laws.

With his approval rating underwater, Mr. Biden is understandably eager to claim credit for low unemployment, real wage growth and the economy's better-than-expected resiliency. He has a good story to tell about making government work again. He can boast about significant legislative wins from his first two years.

Most Americans, however, perceive the economy to be worse than it is because of stubbornly persistent inflation. This was partially fueled by Mr. Biden unleashing too much spending with his $1.9 trillion coronavirns relief package during the opening months of his presidency, when the economy was already starting to overheat.

Polls often prod politicians to look for villains to blame as elections approach. Last week, Mr. Biden criticized banks, oil companies, pharmaceutical manufacturcrs. cryptocurrency traders, hedge fund managers, airlines and hotels. During a recent speech to the AFL-CIO, the president said no one would notice if investment bankers went on strike but that the country would grind to a halt if union members did.

But, as he sharpens his economic pitch, Mr. Biden should resist the temptation to score political points with populism that is likely to sound inauthentic coming from someone first elected to the Senate 50 years ago, and who represented the most corporate-friendly state in the union.

Mr. Biden says he wants everyone to pay their fair share, but hastens to add that he doesn't want to tax the well-todo out of existence. "I'm not talking about the old, old days of 70 percent tax," he said in Chicago, adding that he wants to build an economy in which "the poor have a ladder up, and the wealthy still do well."

This president, as most do, yearns to go down in history as transformational.

Mr. Biden won in 2020 by promising to be a president for all Americans, and that's how he's governing. He's delivering results for red, blue and purple states. For the health of the nation's civic culture, this is also how he should campaign.