Unveiling economic team, Biden pledges, 'Help is on the way'
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Thursday
August 18, 2022

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2022
Unveiling economic team, Biden pledges, 'Help is on the way'

US Election 2020

UNB/AP
02 December, 2020, 11:45 am
Last modified: 02 December, 2020, 11:54 am

Related News

  • US retail sales flat on gasoline price drop; consumer spending resilient
  • Biden's emergency board calls for railroad wage hikes to resolve contract talks
  • Flush with wins, finally Covid-free, Biden to hit the road ahead of US midterms
  • Yellen tells IRS not to increase middle-class audits if it gets more funding
  • Fed to raise interest rates to 4% next year: Chicago Fed President

Unveiling economic team, Biden pledges, 'Help is on the way'

Biden promised that the US would eventually emerge with an economy that is dramatically reshaped to better stamp out economic inequality

UNB/AP
02 December, 2020, 11:45 am
Last modified: 02 December, 2020, 11:54 am
US President-elect Joe Biden delivers a pre-Thanksgiving address at his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, US, November 25, 2020. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
US President-elect Joe Biden delivers a pre-Thanksgiving address at his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, US, November 25, 2020. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday introduced top advisers he says will help his administration rebuild an economy hammered by the coronavirus pandemic, declaring, "I know times are tough, but I want you to know that help is on the way."

My message to everyone struggling right now is this: Help is on the way.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) December 1, 2020

Biden said he'd chosen a "first-rate team" that is "tested and experienced" to tackle the country's economic crisis. He picked liberal advisers who have long prioritized the nation's workers and government efforts to address economic inequality.

Unemployment remains high as the Covid-19 outbreak widens the gulf between average people and the wealthiest Americans. The virus, which has claimed more than 269,000 lives nationwide, is resurgent across the country amid holiday travel and colder weather sending people indoors.

As he did frequently while campaigning, Biden promised that the US would eventually emerge with an economy that is dramatically reshaped to better stamp out economic inequality.

"From the most unequal economic and job crisis in modern history, we can build a new American economy that works for all Americans, not just some," Biden said as he introduced his choices for some of the government's top economic posts during a speech at a theater in Wilmington, Delaware, where he has led his transition to the presidency.

Today, I was proud to announce key nominations and appointments for critical economic positions in the Biden-Harris administration.

A first-rate team that will get us through the economic crisis and help build our economy back better than before. pic.twitter.com/eSUV6ibiZ1— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) December 2, 2020

Tuesday also marked the president-elect's first appearance since breaking two small bones in his right foot while playing with one of his dogs over the weekend. He wore a black walking boot and moved gingerly but tried to keep things light. As he emerged from his motorcade, Biden pointed to his boot and lifted his leg briefly to show it off.

Asked about his foot by reporters, Biden responded only, "Good, thanks for asking."

The injury, while not serious, again intensifies scrutiny on Biden's age, given that he just turned 78 and is the oldest president ever to be in his first term. Still, his team has tried to keep the focus on building out its government and upcoming policy challenges, chief among them the pandemic and the economy.

Biden repeatedly evoked his work as vice president when the Obama administration oversaw the economic recovery following the 2008 financial crisis, noting that many of those on his newly formed economic team worked closely with him then.

Most of his choices will require confirmation from the deeply divided Senate, where some top Republicans have already begun voicing opposition. Biden said he hopes "that we will be able to work across the aisle in good faith, move forward as one country."

Janet Yellen, Biden's nominee for treasury secretary, served as chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018, when she placed a greater emphasis than previous Fed chairs on maximizing employment and less focus on price inflation. Biden also named Cecilia Rouse as chair of his Council of Economic Advisers, and Heather Boushey and Jared Bernstein as members of the council.

Yellen called the economic havoc the pandemic has wrought "an American tragedy."

"To the American people: We will be an institution that wakes up every morning thinking about you," Yellen said of the Treasury Department, "Your jobs, your paychecks, your struggles, your hopes, your dignity and your limitless potential."

If confirmed by the Senate, Yellen would be the first woman to serve as treasury secretary, after breaking ground as the first woman to chair the Fed.

"We might have to ask Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote a musical about the first secretary of the treasury, Hamilton, to write another musical about the female secretary of the treasury," Biden joked.

Rouse would be the first Black woman to lead the CEA in its 74 years of existence. The president-elect also selected Wally Adeyemo to be Yellen's deputy, which would make him the first Black deputy treasury secretary. Neera Tanden, Biden's pick for director of the Office of Management and Budget, would be the first South Asian American in that job.

Rouse, Tanden and Adeyemo will all require Senate confirmation, and Tanden, in particular, is already drawing heavy Republican criticism.

"Budgets are not abstractions. They are a reflection of our values," Tanden said during Tuesday's event.

All of Biden's picks are outspoken supporters of more government stimulus spending to boost growth — which Biden embraced on the campaign trail — though their proposals could face a difficult reception in Congress, which has stalemated on a new round of economic relief for months.

The prospects for a large-scale deal could hang on the outcome of runoff elections for both Georgia Senate seats. Victories in both would give Democrats control of the chamber — and its agenda —- by the slimmest of margins, but Republican victories will quickly test Biden and his team's ability to negotiate across the aisle to deliver on their promised relief for Americans.

As he has in recent weeks, Biden repeated calls for Congress to pass immediate pandemic relief funding even before he takes office.

"Right now, the full Congress should come together and pass a robust package for relief," he said. But Biden added that any package passed during the lame-duck session before the end of the year is "likely to be at best just a start" and said his transition team is "already working on what I'll put forward in the next Congress to address the multiple crises we're facing."

In the meantime, grim economic news is piling up. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Monday that the pace of improvement in the economy has moderated in recent months with future prospects remaining "extraordinarily uncertain."

And Steven Mnuchin, President Donald Trump's treasury secretary, announced last month that, over the objections of the Fed, he would not grant extensions for five lending programs being operated jointly by the Fed and the Treasury Department that are scheduled to expire on Dec. 31 — including backstops for corporate and municipal debt and the purchase of loans for small businesses and nonprofits.

Top News / World+Biz / Global Economy

Biden administration / Biden Presidency / Biden-Harris administration / Joe Biden / US President elect Joe Biden / US economy

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Eight more banks make unusual gains from forex dealings
    Eight more banks make unusual gains from forex dealings
  • The general view of the city from the top of a hill in Kabul, Afghanistan November 5, 2021. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
    Huge explosion hits Kabul mosque, many casualties feared
  • Photo: TBS
    9 arrested over BRT girder crash

MOST VIEWED

  • The supermarket deal, valued at around 6.8-billion pounds ($8.8-billion), follows an auction process for Asda over several months and returns the 71-year-old supermarket company back into British ownership after 21 years, a development welcomed by UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak. PHOTO: COLLECTED
    UK watchdog to rule on $9.5 billion Asda takeover by April 20
  • REUTERS/Carlos Barria
    Georgia prosecutors launch criminal probe into Trump efforts to influence election
  • Photo: Reuters
    Coca-Cola expects sales growth as vaccines set to allow venues to reopen
  • People line up to cast their ballots shortly after sunrise during early voting session in Celebration, Florida, US, October 25, 2020. REUTERS/Gregg Newton
    Stolen election? Republican lawmakers paralyzed by Trump's false fraud claims
  • Picture: Collected
    6 migrant workers dead after falling into pit in India's Meghalaya forest
  • FILE PHOTO: Razor wire is seen on a fence around the U.S. Capitol ahead of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, in Washington, U.S., January 17, 2021. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
    Empty streets, thousands of troops in Washington as Biden becomes US president

Related News

  • US retail sales flat on gasoline price drop; consumer spending resilient
  • Biden's emergency board calls for railroad wage hikes to resolve contract talks
  • Flush with wins, finally Covid-free, Biden to hit the road ahead of US midterms
  • Yellen tells IRS not to increase middle-class audits if it gets more funding
  • Fed to raise interest rates to 4% next year: Chicago Fed President

Features

Photo: Collected

Which Nintendo Switch should you switch to?

1d | Brands
Photo: Collected

Welcome to the age of glass facades

1d | Habitat
Photo: Mumit M/TBS

Why artificial oyster reefs are the answer to our coastal embankments problems

1d | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

Anwar Group: From comb maker to owner of 20 companies

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Vivo to bring new phone with 'special features'

Vivo to bring new phone with 'special features'

7h | Videos
Can Bangladesh buy fuel oil from Russia?

Can Bangladesh buy fuel oil from Russia?

8h | Videos
Sony launches 'Playstation Backbone' for iPhones

Sony launches 'Playstation Backbone' for iPhones

9h | Videos
High cost of baby food a problem for people with limited income

High cost of baby food a problem for people with limited income

9h | Videos

Most Read

1
From left Afzal Karim, Murshedul Kabir and Mohammad Jahangir
Banking

Sonali, Agrani and Rupali banks get new MDs

2
Photo: TBS
Bangladesh

5 crushed to death as BRT girder falls on car in Uttara

3
Russia now offers Bangladesh finished oil
Energy

Russia now offers Bangladesh finished oil

4
Photo: Collected
Economy

Bangladesh is not in a crisis situation: IMF

5
Dollar price drops by Tk8 in kerb market
Economy

Dollar price drops by Tk8 in kerb market

6
Banks limited to profit highest Tk1 per dollar
Economy

Banks limited to profit highest Tk1 per dollar

EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2022
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]