Home » Joe Biden’s battle has just begun – Rana Foroohar

Joe Biden’s battle has just begun – Rana Foroohar

by admin

May 16, 2021 10:11 am

Most Democrats I know were positively surprised by US President Joe Biden. This man is a kind of political Yoda, capable of appealing to the Force of government and reversing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression in a hundred days. Its employment stimulus plan, covid-19 crisis management and initiatives to move the country towards a system that rewards work and not wealth include measures many people have dreamed of for decades. They promise higher standards for workers and fairer taxes, investment in public health, childcare and education, and stronger supply chains. Even Republicans support investments in infrastructure and broadband.

Some reforms Biden proposes, such as restoring trade union rights that Trump, his predecessor, took away from federal employees, and defending US business interests, can be done with a simple signature in the White House. But the trillion-dollar economic stimulus programs will have to go through Congress. Democrats have a scant majority in the House (while the Senate is split in half). Furthermore, even if the projects are approved, their implementation will be complicated. The details of many of these programs are still poorly understood. As they emerge, however, more concrete plans are also likely to be the result of compromises. And this is where things get really tough.

Biden will not be able to be a president who favors workers’ rights and at the same time an indulgent president towards companies in Silicon Valley

Polls show that both Republicans and Democrats are in favor of infrastructure investments in new roads and broadband. The question is where will the money go first. Many construction union members voted for Donald Trump in the last election. These voters, who often live in the swing states (disputed states), ask that money be spent on projects that can be implemented immediately and capable of providing work for many people. Rebuilding roads and bridges is necessary and guarantees the possibility of starting many new works. But strengthening broadband in rural and urban areas is even more important, even if it guarantees less visibility.

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Thus, tensions emerge between short-term and long-term priorities. Financial markets, and especially venture capitalists, want fast results and large profit margins. But rebuilding the industrial base and making a transition to the green economy takes decades.

Support from foreign allies will also be needed. Bridging the gap between what he will tell at home and what he will tell abroad could be Joe Biden’s main challenge. In his speech to the congress, Biden stated that the world leaders he was confronted with are convinced that the United States is “back”, but they want to know “for how long?”. Europeans must be able to rely on Washington’s political stability before engaging in alliances on trade, taxation and technology, also given the importance of trade links between the Union and China.

Europe needs the United States and vice versa. It is necessary to develop a digital alliance that provides a liberal alternative to capitalism based on Beijing state surveillance, or to the limitless monopolies of Silicon Valley tech companies. Perhaps Europe will realize that its long-term interests will be better protected by strengthening ties with Washington rather than Beijing.

But Europeans and Americans have to contend with shareholders of large corporations lobbying for preferential treatment. Just look, for example, at how Apple and Google are fighting Bayer and Siemens over the rules on patents and the digital economy. Or the European concerns about US rules on personal data. Germany will be the epicenter of these battles, with the United States pushing it to choose between various 5g and microchip systems. German exporters, who sell to both the US and China, have a lot to lose.

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Biden will not be able to be a president in favor of workers’ rights and at the same time an indulgent president towards technology companies. Silicon Valley is a powerful lobby in Washington, with politicians from both sides. The increasing “uberization” of work, the inability of trade unions to organize within Amazon, the idea that monopolies should not be dismantled because they represent the economic interests of the United States are all things that threaten the president’s perspective. “To work and not to assets”. The battle of this political Yoda has just begun.

(Translation by Federico Ferrone)

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