Biden's views on capitalism are to be admired and strived for... so far so good.
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On Monday, the president spoke about
the economic recovery and the threat of inflation. He poked fun at the GOP’s warnings “that if I got elected, I’d bring the end to capitalism.” “Six months into my administration, the U.S. economy has experienced the highest economic growth rate in nearly 40 years,” he observed. “It turns out capitalism is alive and very well. We’re making serious progress to ensure that it works the way it’s supposed to work: for the good of the American people.”
In Biden’s words, the political system must “ensure that all working Americans benefit from the growth they’re helping produce.” That means we should measure the economy’s health by wages, not just corporate valuations. “I don’t look at the stock market as a means by which to judge the economy, like my predecessor did,” said the president.
In Biden’s version of capitalism, workers don’t just compete with one another for jobs; employers have to compete with other employers for workers. Right now, due to a labor shortage, “Companies across the country are giving workers a raise,” he noted. He tweaked Republicans for complaining about this trend, as though it’s “a problem if big companies have actually to compete for workers and offer them a fair wage.”
In Biden’s version of capitalism, government spending can facilitate commerce and competition. “Investments in better roads, bridges, transit systems, and high-speed Internet, and a modern, resilient electric grid”—in Washington terms, infrastructure—can open “the bottlenecks in our economy,” he explained. “Goods get to consumers more rapidly and less expensively. Small businesses create and innovate much more seamlessly.” On this, some Republicans agree. But Biden went further. He argued that “quality, affordable child care, elder care, [and] paid leave,” which Republicans dismiss as unnecessary social spending, could “enhance our productivity” by enabling “more people [to] enter the workforce.”
Biden understands that in an unregulated market, the first thing successful competitors will do is subvert competition. That’s why, earlier this month, he signed an
executive order to tighten enforcement of antitrust laws, facilitate drug importation, require companies to disclose more information for comparison shoppers, and restrict anti-competitive employment, rental, and consumer contracts. The point of the executive order, he explained on Monday, was to promote “fair and open competition … the cornerstone of American capitalism” by helping new businesses take on “giant corporations who have been free to ramp up prices because they haven’t had any real competition.”
Biden just explained why his version of capitalism is better than the GOP’s. (slate.com)
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