The year 2023 has made it possible to confirm that Donald Trump is a crude character, vengeful and with such an authoritarian bias that he is obliged to clarify that no, he has not read My Kampf of Hitler. We were also able to see Joe Biden at work, wavering here, stammering his words there, trying to convince us that, yes, he should stay in the presidency until he is 87!
Luckily it wasn’t just the two of them in the news! We were treated to some nice surprises and many disappointments throughout the year, some more notable than others.
With the American economy remaining a global powerhouse, it is to be welcomed that it is moving away from the recession that many economists anticipated at the end of last year.
Admirable, but futile for the president
From a peak of 9.1% in June 2022, inflation has been brought down to a very healthy 3.1%. The unemployment rate has stabilized at 3.7%, which looks like full employment. And with GDP growth of 4.9% (compared to 1% for the European Union, for example), the United States is the envy of Western economies.
Yet who doesn’t benefit from it? The very one who is at the helm of the country, Joe Biden, who, as the Gallup firm certified yesterday, will begin 2024 with an approval rate of 39%, the worst of all the recent presidents who have sought to be re-elect.
Approval ratings of US presidents in December of their first term before the presidential election (Source: Gallup)
- Joe Biden 2023: 39%
- Donald Trump 2019: 45%
- Barack Obama 2011: 43%
- George W. Bush 2003: 58%
- Bill Clinton 1995: 51%
- George HW Bush 1991: 51%
- Ronald Reagan 1983: 54%
- Jimmy Carter 1979: 54%
Note, moreover, this union mobilization such as we have not seen for years. Compared to 2022 alone, almost four times more workers participated in strikes, leading to historic victories. It remains to be seen whether these successes will be contagious, while union representation in the private sector remains at a record low of 6%.
Working days lost per month due to strikes – 2023 record year
Chart taken from data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics
Ukraine a double loser
Ukraine’s long-awaited counter-offensive in its war against Russia is one of the great disillusionments of 2023. Barely 500 square kilometers of territory – only a little more than the area of the island of Montreal – have changed hands since the beginning of the year.
The upcoming battles will take place in the middle of the American presidential election and in parallel with the conflict between Israel and Hamas, enough to divert international attention and play into the hands of Vladimir Putin who has capitalized, from the start, on Western disinterest. for the Ukrainian cause.
A planet in heat
The winter into which we have officially been plunged since the day before yesterday should not make us forget that, according to the European Copernicus Observatory, the months from June to October were the hottest ever recorded in the world.
The year – which in a few days risks receiving the unenviable title of “hottest in history” – was dotted with extreme weather events: ice storms, tornadoes, cyclones, droughts synonymous with famines and, at home, a historic wildfire season.
Data from the “Climate Change Institute, University of Maine”
2023, the hottest year in history
- Blue curve = Average from 1979 to 2000
- Green curve = Average from 1991 to 2020
- Red curve = 2023
Literally and figuratively, we have been hot this year, and for the moment, nothing indicates that 2024 – from the American presidential campaign to the trials of Donald Trump, including the inability to completely ban the use of fossil fuels at COP28 – will be the slightest bit more refreshing.