Ep. 1350 - Authoritarian Biden Is Murdering The Economy

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: The episode argues that Biden’s economic and COVID policies are producing stagflation, weak job growth, and unnecessary public fear, while the media and tech companies help preserve elite control by enforcing “scientific consensus” and censoring dissent. Shapiro links vaccine mandates, school policy, climate censorship, and gifted-education changes to a broader authoritarian impulse.

Main Topics: Weak September Jobs Report and Stagflation (Priority: 5/5): The transcript opens on the disappointing 194,000-job gain and frames it as evidence that Biden’s tax, spending, regulatory, and COVID policies are suppressing growth, fueling inflation, and discouraging investment. COVID as Medical Problem vs. Psychological/Political Problem (Priority: 5/5): Shapiro argues COVID is now largely endemic and manageable medically, but politicians, media, and public institutions keep society in panic mode to justify control, mandates, and school restrictions. Vaccine Mandates and Government Overreach (Priority: 5/5): The host criticizes Biden’s push for workplace mandates as coercive, unnecessary for vaccinated adults, and legally/constitutionally suspect, while noting the administration benefits politically without formally issuing some rules. Children, Schools, and Pandemic Policy (Priority: 4/5): A major section attacks masking, quarantining, and vaccination policies for children, arguing the health risk to kids is extremely low and that school policies are driven by fear rather than evidence. Elite Control, Media Narrative, and the ‘Magic Button’ Mindset (Priority: 4/5): Shapiro uses Scott Alexander/Martin Gurri’s thesis to argue elites still believe they can solve problems top-down if only given more power, and therefore blame outsiders when outcomes disappoint. Tech/Information Censorship and Climate Change (Priority: 4/5): Google’s move to bar ads on climate-denial content is presented as part of a wider effort to enforce orthodoxy, suppress debate, and maintain elite authority over public knowledge. Education, Merit, and Social Engineering (Priority: 3/5): The elimination of NYC’s gifted-and-talented program is framed as a merit-hating effort to impose equality through mediocrity rather than improve outcomes for disadvantaged students.

Key Arguments: The September jobs number (194,000) is far below what the economy needs, showing that Biden’s policy mix is producing stagnation rather than recovery. The unemployment problem is political and geographic: red states are doing better than blue states, suggesting policies and attitudes toward reopening matter more than the virus itself. COVID has two dimensions—medical and psychological—and the psychological panic is being prolonged by Democrats, the media, and institutions pursuing zero-COVID. Vaccine mandates are unnecessary for vaccinated adults, violate liberty, and are being used to signal control rather than solve a real public-health problem. The administration benefits from appearing tough on mandates while avoiding direct legal responsibility by not formally issuing the OSHA rule it advertised. Children face very low risk from COVID, so masking, quarantining, and pushing vaccines on young kids is described as irrational and driven by adult fear. Scientific consensus is portrayed as unstable and politicized; shutting down dissent on COVID or climate prevents scrutiny and protects elite prestige. NYC gifted-program elimination is criticized as lowering standards instead of addressing unequal preparation, harming advanced students to achieve symbolic equity.

Data Points: Jobs added in September: 194,000 - U.S. employers added fewer jobs than expected, which Shapiro cites as evidence of a weak economy. Economists’ forecast: 500,000 jobs - Forecast cited as already disappointing relative to the million-a-month pace he says is needed. Open jobs in the U.S.: 10 million - Used to argue labor supply should support much stronger hiring. Unemployment rate: 4.8% - Reported in the jobs data, but Shapiro says it fell partly because people left the workforce. Children who have died of COVID in the U.S.: under 600 - Cited to argue the virus is extremely low-risk for children. Children who died of pneumonia in the same period: about 900 - Used as a comparison to highlight the relatively low child risk from COVID. Viral load of Delta relative to original variant: 100 to 300 times higher - Used to argue cloth masks are even less effective against Delta in schools. United Airlines employee vaccination rate after requirement: 59% to 99% - Shapiro cites Biden’s example as evidence for mandates, while noting this may reflect departures as much as vaccinations. Study size for Pfizer vaccine in 12–17-year-olds: more than 3,700 children - Referenced to critique the limited evidence base for vaccinating children. Cases in the pediatric vaccine study: 0 in vaccinated group; 4 in placebo group - Used to question whether this small difference justifies broad mandates for children. Gifted program student share in NYC: about 75% white or Asian-American - Explains why the city is moving to eliminate or overhaul the program. Overall school system share represented by those groups: about 25% - Used to frame the debate over unequal representation in gifted classes.

Pivotal Quotes: "Joe Biden is killing the economy." — Ben Shapiro: Core claim about the September jobs report and broader economic policy. "The second problem of the pandemic is a psychological problem." — Ben Shapiro: Shapiro’s framing of ongoing COVID panic as driven by fear and politics rather than only medical reality. "If you just gave me more power on the economy, I would hit the cause miracle button." — Ben Shapiro: Describes what he sees as the elite belief that centralized power can solve everything if only the right people are in charge.

Implications: Listeners are urged to distrust top-down mandates, censorship, and “expert” narratives that justify control. The episode predicts stronger backlash over child vaccination, climate speech restrictions, and education policy as institutions try to preserve authority.