Joe Biden has steadied the nation – why don’t his polling numbers reflect this? | Robert Reich

Biden's State of the Union address is a reminder of how good a president he has been, but majorities believe he has made no progress

In his first State of the Union address since Democrats lost control of the House, Joe Biden celebrated recent economic gains - especially declining inflation and soaring job growth - while taking a bow for legislative victories that will curb prescription drug prices, expand health benefits for veterans, slow climate change and rebuild the nation's infrastructure.

Biden's speech reminded me of how good a president he has been, especially given what he inherited from the former guy, who made a fetish out of dividing and angering Americans while accomplishing nothing except giving a giant tax cut to big corporations and the rich.

Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com