Over And Out

The call to leave the race is perhaps the most important legacy of Joe Biden's presidency

- MOHAMED ZEESHAN

JOE BIDEN WILL be remembered for his decision to drop out of the presidential race. Given how deep into the election season we are, and the fact that he had staked his reputation on staying committed to the race only days earlier, this could not have been an easy call to make. Had Biden remained obstinate, there was not really anything that the Democrats could have done to end his candidacy this late. This was, therefore, an act of tremendous courage.

That said, his record as president is a mixed bag. Biden has done relatively better on domestic policy. He has overseen the creation of a record number of jobs, made much-needed investment in America's ageing infrastructure and expanded access to critical medicines for senior citizens. The decision to cancel student loans was quite significant, too, in a country where higher education is rather unaffordable.

Perhaps most tellingly, for most of his presidency, Biden faced dire predictions from several economists of an impending recession. So far, the recession has not come, and the expanded public investment spending was probably a key factor in mitigating that. Some pockets of the economy have remained in distress, especially the high-tech sector which saw a flurry of layoffs, but hiring remains robust in most sectors. Inflation and housing costs have been unusually high, but there are some signs that they might cool down in the months ahead. All the same, inflation has perhaps been the biggest blot on Biden's handling of the economy-in part a fallout of the understandable decision to go the 'high spending, high growth' route after the pandemic.