Pres.-elect Bidens outlines econ goals

Speaking for the first-time as President-elect on the subject of the economy alone, and its relationship to the raging COVID-19 pandemic, Joe Biden emerged from a meeting of corporate and union leaders to address reporters.

He outlined a number of key proposals aimed at boosting the economy both in the short and long term, including support for electric vehicles and hundreds of thousands of additional charging stations, building 1.5 million affordable housing units, boosting the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, and endorsing federal legislation to provide paid sick leave and family leave.

Biden is seeking to rally unity among Americans behind both the response to the pandemic and growing the economy. The strategy is essentially to try to unwind the messaging of President Trump, or the lack of messaging, particularly on wearing of masks and other COVID-19 measures.

It boils down to the fact that the genesis of the economic downturn is the pandemic itself. Even with remarkably exciting news about the reported effectiveness of vaccines, there’s still some time to come for the economy to struggle and businesses to fail with more jobs lost or not fully restored before all Americans can safely resume normal activities.

In referencing support of both corporate and union leaders, Biden is taking the same approach to unity that he’s seeking among Republicans and Democrats. Those are tall orders, of course, because it is true that the heavy lifting is ultimately in the details on policy and legislation.

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Full passage of the $2 trillion-plus HEROES Act, as Biden called for, seems like an impossible task given the current composition and Republican control of the Senate. This is why the outcome of the Georgia U.S. Senate runoffs has huge implications. Biden also connected the dots between providing federal support for state and local governments, noting that the jobs of first responders, including law enforcement stands at risk.

While the unemployment rate dropped to 6.9% in October, it remains historically elevated, as is the 21 million Americans recently receiving some form of unemployment benefit. Without further legislation, millions of Americans stand to lose those benefits at year-end.

Biden enunciated support of forgiveness of $10,000 of an individual’s student loan debt. That’s roughly a third of the average amount of student loan debt held by individuals, understanding there’s a great deal of variation, some with more and some with less. That’s a far cry from forgiving all of the more than $1.5 trillion in student loan debt, of course. As with all borrowing, prospective student loan borrowers and those who currently hold it should be prudent until there’s any actual action on this front. For now, these are just talking points.

What are you looking for from the new president and Congress? How are your own prospects all these many months into the pandemic? Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Meantime, take good care!

Mark Hamrick is senior economic analyst and Washington Bureau Chief for Bankrate.com. 

Follow on Twitter: @Hamrickisms