March 28, 2024 | NEWS | By Sofia Joucovsky
Americans are once again faced with Donald Trump as the Republican nominee and Joe Biden as the foreseen Democratic nominee come the November presidential election. Biden is facing low approval ratings and the economy seems to be voters’ top concern, Reuters reported. According to a poll by the Pew Research Center, “Biden’s job rating has not been above 40% since April 2022.”
Americans seem split on how Biden has handled the economy and whether he did a better or worse job than Trump.
Voters are wondering who they should support and how the future president will impact local economies.
The defense industry, a large part of the economy in Colorado Springs, the nation’s 39th-largest city, is “almost recession proof” says Bill Craighead, an economist at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.
When looking at big picture data in the United States and Colorado Springs specifically, Craighead said, the Springs has an even lower unemployment rate than the rest of the country, which is currently seeing its lowest unemployment rates since Feb. 2020.
A Pew Research poll in 2020 found that 57% of Americans rated economic conditions as excellent or good at the start of 2020; positive ratings fell to 23% in April 2020, as the COVID-19 outbreak spread across the country. Views of the economy improved early during Biden’s first few months in office but declined subsequently.
While, statistically, according to the Pew Research Poll, many voters are concerned with the economy, professional economists like Craighead are feeling positive about where the economy is going — especially in Colorado Springs, where he says the economy is successful because of a military presence, post-pandemic spending and Biden’s policies.
The military specifically and the 30,000-armed forces who live on bases around Colorado Springs keep Colorado Springs somewhat protected from the effects of a recession. In 2022, Fort Carson had a “total economic impact” on Colorado Springs of $2.47 billion.
According to Brandy Gill, a military spokesperson for Fort Carson, the base “proudly partners with several Front Range communities and we maintain a robust set of mutually beneficial formal and informal partnerships with local, regional, state and federal agencies. The agreements cover everything from wildland firefighting to higher education. These partnerships strengthen our ties with our community, the State of Colorado and key stakeholders up and down the front range.”
There are 74,213 people living on Fort Carson alone, according to a military statistics sheet.
Fort Carson states the base is “called the ‘Best Hometown in the Army’ and one of the most requested military installations in the U.S.”
A spokesperson for Fort Carson says the base has “an extremely positive environment for soldiers and families here due, in part, to our partnerships with the local civilian communities. Fort Carson is honored to be part of a vibrant southern Colorado community.
Fort Carson is the third largest employer in the state, behind the State of Colorado and Denver International Airport, with 33,500 employees, according to its fact sheet.
Based on Craighead’s analysis, Biden’s policies have benefited both Colorado Springs and the nation. Even in places without a large military presence, Craighead said, “Colorado, overall, has a really great economy.” Prior to the pandemic, unemployment remained the same until Biden took office and then it dropped dramatically. Craighead says the economy, “now is as good, maybe even better in some ways” than in 2019 because of unemployment rates and household wealth metrics.
When criticizing the economy, some call attention to rising inflation, including both Rob Roger, vice chair of the El Paso County Democrats, and Wayne Williams, a Republican who was Secretary of State from 2011-2015 and ran unsuccessfully for Colorado Springs Mayor in 2023.
Roger noted that Republicans may be “pushing inflation as a negative aspect of the economy, especially when a Democrat is president in an election year.” He said that when the media refers to the economy, they are often referencing inflation and people may not understand what’s causing it.
For his part, Williams says he has not supported Biden’s economic policies because the stimulus checks have caused inflation. “I do know if you go into [national] debt, you want to get something from it,” he said about stimulus spending — and not just money to spend that Americans will not benefit from in the future.
Trump also passed a stimulus check package, called the CARES act.
Unlike some high-profile Republicans in Colorado, Williams supports the bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, which according to the White House, is intended to “rebuild America’s roads, bridges and rails, expand access to clean drinking water, ensure every American has access to high-speed internet, tackle the climate crisis, advance environmental justice, and invest in communities that have too often been left behind.”
He says future generations will be able to use what is being built, while still paying off the debt of building said infrastructure.
Both Biden and Trump passed stimulus measures that gave money to American workers. According to Craighead, household wealth is higher than it’s been in a long time and households are coming out of the pandemic “in really strong financial shape.”
Craighead says what’s responsible for inflation is not necessarily on the president. He said the Federal Bank is ultimately what controls inflation and the choices it made did not necessarily mitigate that issue.
Craighead also said inflation was an international issue. He explained it is because of “disruptions in the supply side of the economy and we saw the effects of this worldwide,” and it was not a problem in the United States alone; “Most other countries had inflation too,” he said, “even though they didn’t have the same exact policies.”
While inflation had increased greatly, according to Craighead, “we are kind of putting that behind us.” He talked about how the consumer price index, the tool economists use to measure inflation, has decreased recently.
“Economic vitality has been and will continue to be a key part of my administration’s focus,” said Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade in a statement. “A vibrant economy is critical for both job creation and talent development and it is tied to the health of our community.”
Mobolade says the Colorado Springs City Council has approved “economic development agreements for nine companies, six of which are small businesses.” This could lead to over $2 billion in “capital investments,” 3,037 new jobs and $1 million in economic output, according to his statement.
While locally, there is much being put into Colorado Springs economically, there were three bills Biden passed that impacted both national and local economies positively, according to Craighead. These were the CHIPS and Science Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and the American Rescue Plan.
Alongside new jobs in the defense and science industries, is the mostly bipartisan passing of the CHIPS and Science Act, which according to Craighead, has been able to bring a lot of business into Colorado Springs.
According to the White House, this act has “spurred an historic recovery in manufacturing, adding 642,000 manufacturing jobs since 2021. Companies are investing in America again, bringing good-paying manufacturing jobs back home. The construction of new manufacturing facilities has increased 116 percent over last year.”
While Biden and Trump are using the economy as campaign points and people are using them as their reason to vote, Craighead explains that many believe the president has far more power influencing short run changes in the economy, which is doing arguably well currently.
“It’s not like every up and down in the economy is because…the president turned the knob the right way or the wrong way. The economy is 300 million people making their own decisions… policy has some influence but it’s not like the president drives all the ups and downs we see.” Craighead says.