“The truth of the matter is, it’s all within our wheelhouse and nobody has to be punished. No one’s standard of living would change. Nothing would fundamentally change.”
–Joe Biden
The failure of neoliberalism has undercut U.S. capitalism’s ability to compete within—and by extension dominate—the world system. That is why there is broad support among business elites and the political establishment for Biden’s turn and why it is a dangerous illusion to present it as a concession to the Left. His imperialist Keynesianism is designed to re-cohere a deeply divided nation, rehabilitate the foundations of U.S. capitalism, and reassert U.S. hegemony over the world state system—especially against China, its rising imperial rival.
Biden’s proposed expansion of welfare state spending will do little to mitigate the profound social inequalities of the U.S. As Susan Watkins argues, if enacted the plans will not even bring the U.S. welfare state up to the current level of those in Europe, which themselves have been ravaged by neoliberal cuts.
“If all of Biden’s proposed tax increases passed…the total federal tax rate on the wealthy would remain significantly lower than it was in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s. It would also remain somewhat lower than during the mid-1990s.”
Biden also wants to co-opt the “progressive movement,” especially its parliamentary representatives, and otherwise neutralize the growth of the Left.
His mild liberal reforms are designed to head these off and at the same time secure support from liberal NGOs and the union bureaucracy so that they will turn out their members in the midterm elections in 2022.
Sanders went so far as to call the Biden administration “the most progressive since FDR.”
Sanders as well most progressive Democrats support such multilateral imperialism.
And capital, represented by the Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable, despite its complaints about paying even minor tax increases, is supportive of Biden’s fiscal activism. In a sign of corporate support, the stock market has soared to record levels, besting every president’s first hundred days from Trump back to Truman.
During the 1970s crisis, Keynesianism had no answer to stagflation… That’s why the ruling class first under Jimmy Carter and then decisively under Ronald Reagan turned to neoliberalism as a new strategy.
Biden’s programme for rehabilitating U.S. capitalism
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