Biden’s policies on the economy
The president-elect’s economic agenda must prop up a buckling U.S. economy long enough for the coronavirus pandemic to wane.
(Photos by Justin Lane/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock, Michael S. Williamson and Salwan Georges/The Washington Post, and Eve Edelheit for The Washington Post)
President-elect Joe Biden will inherit a U.S. shaky economic recovery that’s showing new signs of buckling amid the escalating coronavirus pandemic.
With more than 10 million people unemployed, the economy is at risk of sliding more deeply into an already devastating recession or it could be on the precipice of expanding into a healthy recovery.
Much of the fate of the economic turnaround will depend on the new administration’s ability to commandeer and control the raging public health crisis from its current record levels of infections. U.S. spending cannot resume in a significant way until Americans feel safe enough to spend money, especially in sectors that depend on face-to-face contact, such as travel, restaurants and hospitality.
Just as critical will be Biden’s economic policy agenda and the degree to which stronger stimulus and spending programs are implemented to prop up the U.S. economy to prevent a catastrophic collapse before the pandemic begins to wane.
Overview
Biden to begin term pushing emergency relief, other ambitious economic plans
By Jeff Stein and Erica Werner
President-elect Joe Biden will arrive in Washington with an ambitious economic agenda topped with plans to prod Congress to pass a multitrillion-dollar coronavirus relief bill aimed at stabilizing the teetering economy and stopping the spread of the coronavirus.
Growth
To succeed, Biden must create more jobs than any president in recent history
By Heather Long
President-elect Joe Biden will inherit a weak recovery. Growth is expected to pick up quickly as coronavirus vaccines are widely distributed, but getting 10 million people back to work is likely to take longer.
Taxes
Democratic Senate control gives Biden freer hand in pursuing tax agenda
By Yeganeh Torbati
Joe Biden ran for president on a campaign of raising taxes on the wealthy, corporations and estates, expanding tax credits for modest earners, and exempting individual taxpayers making less than $400,000 from tax increases. Biden wants to use the extra money to pay for a far-reaching domestic agenda, with new spending on health care, infrastructure, low-income schools and initiatives to combat climate change.
Trade
Biden aims for new course on trade, in break with Trump, Democratic predecessors
By David J. Lynch
President-elect Joe Biden will confront the same question that has bedeviled U.S. policymakers for three decades: How can the United States shape for maximum benefit its overseas commercial engagements?
Employment
Biden will inherit the most challenging labor market in decades
By Eli Rosenberg
President-elect Joe Biden will inherit one of the most challenging labor markets in decades, with millions of Americans jobless as the coronavirus pandemic continues to weigh on the economic recovery.