Bond Vigilantes Are Giving Biden a Pass for Now
The incoming president's $1.9 trillion stimulus aims high, though not high enough to cause an inflation scare.
It’s this big, and it isn’t getting away this time.
Photographer: Win McNamee/Getty Images
It’s hard to imagine, but this time next week (all being well) the U.S. will have a new president. This changes a lot. But American presidents don’t get everything their way, as the incumbent is learning. Joe Biden’s critical first move, on which much political capital for the rest of his four-year term will depend, should be regarded as the opening bid in a very complicated game.
We now have the outlines of the “stimulus” that he will present to Congress. He plans to ask for $1.9 trillion, in a package that will include $400 billion in measures directly tied to fighting the pandemic, plus another round of checks for all Americans, regardless of income, as well as a doubling of the federal minimum wage, extension of unemployment benefits, and aid for states, cities and rapid transit systems.