Joe Biden and "the new progressivism"

Dec 7, 2020

Felicia Wong, the President and CEO of the Roosevelt Institute, dives deep into the evolving landscape of American progressivism. She discusses the decline of neoliberalism and how it’s reshaping Biden's presidency. Topics include Biden's potential use of executive power to tackle student debt and the importance of addressing economic inequality. Wong also highlights the new progressivism’s four factions and how this shift could fundamentally change policymaking in the U.S., reflecting a broader focus on power rather than just markets.

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INSIGHT

Power Blind Spot

One of neoliberalism's biggest blind spots was power, choosing to substitute choice for politics.
This oversimplification ignored the complexities of human relationships, financial influence, and cultural forces.

INSIGHT

Emerging Economic Frameworks

Emerging economic thought moves beyond simple market vs. anti-market divides.
New structuralists, public providers, and economic transformers offer distinct approaches to economic policy.

INSIGHT

Biden as Economic Transformer

Joe Biden surprisingly embodies the economic transformer approach, advocating government investment in key sectors.
His Build Back Better plan reflects this vision, emphasizing green technologies and support for frontline communities.

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It’s often said that Joe Biden has an instinct for finding the political center — that of his party, and that of the country. To understand how Biden has changed, and how he might govern, we need to understand how the ideological context of American politics is changing, and why.

Felicia Wong is the President and CEO of the Roosevelt Institute, a progressive think tank that has done some of the best work on the way the ideological firmament of politics is shifting. Wong believes that the set of governing assumptions behind both conservative and progressive policymaking, what broadly gets called “neoliberalism,” is devolving. And she, and Roosevelt more broadly, have done some of the best work mapping the different worldviews and factions competing to take its place.

We discuss what neoliberalism was and wasn’t, how a focus on markets is giving way to a focus on power, the four main groups that make up “the new progressivism,” where Biden himself has affinities with the changing worldview, what he can (and can’t) do without congress, the case for and against student debt cancellation, how the new administration could wield its antitrust power, why Elizabeth Warren’s brand of economic thinking holds particular promise for a Biden administration, and more.

References:

"What Is the Current Student Debt Situation?" by Matt Bruenig

"The Emerging Worldview: How New Progressivism Is Moving Beyond Neoliberalism" by Felicia Wong

Book recommendations:

Suburban Warriors by Lisa McGirr

From Counterculture to Cyberculture by Fred Turner

State of Resistance by Manuel Pastor

Credits:

Producer/Audio engineer - Jeff Geld

Researcher - Roge Karma

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