Alex

A New President on January 20: What Economic Policies with Joe Biden and the Democrats Introduce?'

The new US President Joe Biden was inaugurated not more than a week ago on the 20th of January and has wasted no time in making some much needed changes. He has already signed 17 orders and actions to break from the previous president Donald Trump’s policies and paved the way for new paths on the corona virus, the environment and immigration. Just after being appointed President, he stopped the construction of Trump’s wall at the Mexican border, ended the ban on visitors from Muslim countries and set a new mask mandate to slow the spread of covid 19. He also reinstated protections on nature reserves that had been removed by the former president and sought protection for many who were behind on their mortgages along with a freeze on eviction.

President Biden was unfortunate to be elected during a global pandemic but still was still able to promise some policies to stop the spread of the virus and help those affected by it. Biden put into effect a $1.9 trillion dollar plan to give every American a $1,400 check and boost the vaccine roll-out programme by 20 billion. He also promised 100 million vaccinations in 100 days by invoking the defence production act and said he would launch an education programme to combat public scepticism of the vaccine. Finally, as previously mentioned, the new president said he would put a temporary freeze on eviction and help people who are behind on their mortgage payments because of the virus.

In terms of healthcare, Biden said he would expand the affordable care act to ensure health insurance for roughly 97% of the american population. He said he would do this by lowering the age of eligibility for medicare and allowing Americans to enrol in another public health insurance programme.

The president also introduced a climate plan to achieve emissions-free power by 2035. The plan promises to build 1.5 million new energy efficient homes through a pledge to invest $2 trillion dollars and by increasing the corporate income tax by 7%. Additionally, he signed an executive order to rejoin the Paris climate accord which is a good start for the new president in the fight against climate change.

In terms of foreign policy, Biden claimed he would repair alliances with NATO and the World Health Organisation and try to “engage with the world once more.” He also said he would enter into another international deal with Iran, which had been made by Obama in the past and destroyed by Trump.

When it comes to Taxes, Biden definitely did not hold back as he said he would raise taxes on people with an income of above $400 thousand per year. He wants to impose a marginal tax increase where the more a person makes above $400 thousand, the more tax they will have to pay. This will only affect 2% of the american population however. In addition, he also planned a corporate tax raise for democrats to 28%.

In conclusion, I believe that the new president’s policies relating to covid pandemic, healthcare, the environment, foreign relations and taxes are well defined with positive impacts for both America and the rest of the world. Specifically, I see his ideas surrounding environmental policies to be particularly beneficial as he is rejoining the Pars agreement and planning on improving his relationship with WHO. The drastic measures he put in place for combating the covid pandemic are also favourable as they will have an immediate effect. It will be interesting to see if he will stay true to his word with the vaccinations and the rest of his policies.