It’s a puzzle at the heart of US politics, and it occurs in Australian politics, too. Americans consistently say that by far the most important issue for them is the state of the economy. And when Joe Biden began his televised address from the Oval Office to the nation this week, he reminded them that he began his term when the country was in its worst downturn since the Great Depression.

He went on to boast: “Today we have the strongest economy in the world.” And the next morning the official report vindicated his claim. The economy had grown soundly in the three months to the end of June at an annualised rate of 2.8 per cent. “America’s economy roars,” as The Economist magazine put it.

On paper, the US economy is leading the world, but voters want more. Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden, who hopes she’ll take his place.Credit: AP

The Wall Street Journal summarised: “The US economy accelerated in the second quarter as consumers increased their spending, businesses invested more in equipment and stocked inventories, and inflation cooled.”

A headline earlier this year from the Axios news site continues to be true: “US winning world economic war.” Among the G7 wealthy democracies, America’s economy stands out.

Yet Biden’s economic boast came at the very moment he was political toast. His address to the nation was the beginning of his long goodbye. He was explaining why he’d decided to withdraw from the contest for re-election.

There’s “a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices”, he said. “And that time and place is now.” His economic jubilation was set amid his political humiliation.

We all saw it. His own political party forced him out, the first time since 1968 that a Democrat president has pulled out of the race for re-election in an election year.

Biden was an unpopular president for years before the much-publicised debate performance where he showcased his decrepitude. And despite all the hype about that debate, it didn’t much move the dial on Biden’s electoral standing; his post-debate poll slippage was in the margin of polling error.

The debate panicked........

© Brisbane Times