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One
win for the Biden administration this week was the roll back of the
Trump-era steel and aluminium tariffs on the EU © Antonio Masiello/Getty
Images
Budget
troubles. Climate let-downs. Rising inflation. Diminished expectations.
These are the inflection points of an increasingly negative Biden
administration narrative. Plenty of people even within his own party
seem ready to write off the president and his agenda. But I am not among
them. So, in this Swamp Note, let me offer three reasons why those who
still hold out hope for this presidency should not despair.
First,
is the G20 agreement on a 15 per cent global minimum corporate tax,
which was led by the US and in particular Treasury Secretary Janet
Yellen. Yes, it’s true that the details of exactly how to tax the
intellectual property and data wealth of Big Tech firms are TBD, and the
deal will do more for rich countries than poorer ones. But honestly,
this is a big step towards countering 40 years of economic globalisation
running ahead of national politics in the developed world. The US has
led a group of developed countries to put a stake in the ground around
re-mooring corporate wealth and place. That’s a first step towards
rebuilding trust in liberal democracy itself. It also shows that the
administration can build coalitions globally.
Another
win for the Biden administration this week was the rollback of the
Trump-era steel and aluminium tariffs on the EU. This was good for
transatlantic relations and, following the Airbus-Boeing resolution,
demonstrates that Biden’s trade strategy isn’t just Trumpism with better
manners. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s point about the US and
Europe working together to build demand and standards around cleaner
steel was a nod to the fact that ESG could become a way for the two
regions to fight Chinese mercantilism. It’s also part of a larger effort
to come together on standard-setting in bigger areas, like technology, and thus create a framework for the digital economy that presents an alternative to Big Tech or the autocratic Big State.
Finally,
despite the disappointment from seemingly all sides on the trimmed down
Biden budget proposals, it does make important strides for working
families. The president campaigned on the caring economy, and the new
budget would, for the first time in US history, actually create a viable
public early childhood care system. Pre-school would be free for
children aged three and up, as would day care at an early childhood
learning centre for families earning $72,000 or up to $100,000 in
expensive cities like New York and DC. Even those making up to $150,000
would get a break and pay no more than 7 per cent of their income on
early childhood care. As someone who once paid about a third of my
salary to a nanny, I can say this is a game changer. And if it goes
through, I can’t imagine that it wouldn’t help get more working moms back into the labour force, which would in turn help curb some of the labour shortages the country is currently experiencing.
I
don’t want to sound too much like a cheerleader for the administration,
but turning the Titanic takes time. This administration has laid down
some pretty big goals — things like shifting the very nature of the
American economy to focus on income rather than asset-based growth, rolling back Robert Bork-era views
about competition policy, and balancing free trade with the realities
of a post-neoliberal world. These are things that will take years, not
months. After all, it took 40 years to get here. Given the headwinds, I
think the White House is doing about as well as any administration could
in pushing these goals forward. Ed, have I done anything to make you
feel more optimistic about Biden’s prospects going forward? Or is all
this wishful thinking on my part? |