Forty years ago, we had Reaganomics. Today, we’re hearing more and more about Bidenomics, a moniker that brands President Joe Biden’s efforts to grow the economy and jobs and fight inflation.

Biden is leaning into the name as an early campaign theme of his reelection bid.

But what exactly is Bidenomics?

“Bidenomics is about building the economy from the middle out and bottom up, not the top down. And there’s three fundamental changes we decided to make with Congress to be able to do it,” Biden said Wednesday in Chicago. “First, making smart investments in America. Second, educating and empowering American workers to grow the middle class. And third, promoting competition to lower costs to help small businesses.”

Biden touted economic growth he says is driven from the bottom up through government investment in contrast to tax cuts for the wealthy and the trickle-down philosophy of Reaganomics launched by Republican Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.

While the term “Bidenomics” was first used as a derisive term by the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal, Biden said he was now embracing it as a reference to a theory of government stimulus. Banners and signs featuring the phrase surrounded Biden as he spoke Wednesday.

The “Bidenomics” theme, which is expected to be promoted by the president, Vice President Kamala Harris and other administration officials across the country through July 15, is aimed at proposing laws focused on infrastructure, manufacturing and clean energy. The barnstorming comes as Biden’s job approval numbers have averaged below 45% for more than a year.

Earlier this week, the White House promoted a $42 billion investment to bring high-speed internet service to underserved areas as part of a new infrastructure package as well as the CHIPS and Science Act for aiding in the 20-year construction of the nation’s largest semiconductor manufacturing facility in upstate New York.

While the White House acknowledged inflation remained a concerning factor, Biden noted the inflation rate has fallen and the administration contends Americans have higher net worths and higher real disposable incomes than before the pandemic.

Despite his low job approval ratings, the administration contends there is widespread public support for Biden’s top legislative accomplishments, including infrastructure acts that enhanced roads, water, broadband and the electrical grid.

However, a new poll shows only 1 in 3 U.S. adults approve of his economic leadership.

That 34% figure is even lower than his overall approval rating of 41%, according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Biden’s approval figures have barely moved for the past year and a half, a source of concern for a president pursuing a second term on his ability to govern and focus on workers.

His handling of the economy has been a persistent thorn in his side since inflation hit a 40-year high last summer.

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