Economics
Yellen Opens Debate on Giant Spending, Saying the ‘World Has Changed’
- She could be confirmed as Treasury chief as early as Thursday
- Republicans already reject parts of Biden’s $1.9 trillion bid
Janet Yellen
Photographer: Pete Marovich/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Janet Yellen invoked an enduring era of low interest rates in delivering the Biden administration’s opening argument to lawmakers for its $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief proposal.
President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for Treasury secretary told the Senate Finance Committee in testimony Tuesday that the slew of spending -- from aid to small businesses and the unemployed to funding for state governments -- was needed to fight the pandemic, while playing down concerns about the debt it creates.