very cognizant of is that americans are looking for action when it comes to things like the economy and inflation. so he is trying to point to progress that his administration has made since taking office. pointing to had fact that they have reduced the national deficit by $350 billion last year, and that they are set to pay down the federal debt for the first time in six years. of course, they are also playing to senator joe manchin when they talk about deficit reduction has manchin has said any future economic agenda would need to include reduction in the deficit. the president trying to ease some of the concerns of americans when it comes to the economy and inflation, but it s unclear whether he ll be rewarded for deficit reduction as so much of the emphasis americans are placing are on the prices at the gas pump and the grocery store. when the president was discussing the republicans economic agenda to some critics he may have sounded like he was on the campaign trail. he real
policies, look at this. a majority of americans in this poll, 55%, say biden s policies have actually worsened economic conditions. 26%, no effect. only 19% of americans in this poll say biden s policies have improved conditions. and david, because of the economy, more americans say they are buying less, according to the poll. yeah, we talk about this all the time. the economy is how people feel in their everyday lives. look at this. 63% of respondents say they re buying fewer groceries. same say they have cut nonessentials out of their lives. 55%, a majority, delaying purchases. 54% cutting back on driving. you can see how americans, majority of americans, have changed the way they operate day to day because of inflation. what about the president s overall job performance? where does he stand there? these economic numbers are keeping his approval rating where it s been, which is low. low 40s here. 41% approval in our poll. 59% disapproval.
jake, to bring the inflation back down to where under reagan we had the tax cut, supply increases, tight money, and we got inflation conquered. that is not what this fed is doing yet. i mean, they have got to go a lot further to bring inflation down. and then they would really risk a bad economy, but that s the only way i know of bringing inflation down. betsy, the fed also signaled more interest rate increases will be coming soon, as arthur just suggested. as stocks closed sharply higher, but there has been a lot of turbulence in the markets lately. some economists say turbulence on wall street right now is a good thing. do you agree with that? well no arthur, hold on one second. let s have betsy and then you can weigh in. go ahead, betsy. i don t think we have the economy of the 1970s or 1980s. i think what the fed said very clearly today, the most important thing they said, not that they are open to raising rates further. they are. but what they said is they re not goi
expectations become unanchored. that s the bright line. we are getting inflation back to 2%. and they will do what it takes to make sure that our long run inflation gets back to 2%. and i think right now, what we see is the market believes that. every once in a while, we see nervousness, but as long as they continue to believe that the fed has this under control, that inflation expectations are going back to 2%, then i think things are fine. in order how much do they need to raise rates? i think that depends on what we see happening in the next new months in the economy. i don t think it s clear right now exactly how much they need to raise rates. what is clear is they will need to raise rates somewhat. and that they re going to be doing that based on data and the information that they get. arthur? yeah, sorry for blurting in. i think they re going to have to raise rates a lot more. there s no sign yet that i can see that inflation has stopped
recession because of raising rates too aggressively to fight inflation, and there are lots of opinions on this, but today, powell said he thinks the fed can slow the economy without starting a recession. victor. the question is can they accomplish that soft landing that we hear so much about. alison kosik, thanks so much. the lead with jake tapper starts now. is the fed action today too little too late? the lead starts right now. the biggest interest rate hike in more than two decades. why economists say the move should help us all in the united states and bring prices on everyday items down as a brand-new cnn poll tells us how you think president biden is handling the economy and more. plus, russians blocked ukrainian forces managed to push back kremlin fighters trying to storm the mariupol steel plant while civilians packed caravans of cars, some ten people deep, in an effort to escape. and the new audio this hour