What Has Pushed Biden Left

A Sea Change in Economics

Today, President Biden signed an executive order that aims to promote competition in the US economy and increase antitrust enforcement.

Few expected policies like this, or the historic care and climate proposals in the American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan, from President Joe Biden.

In a New York Magazine feature, Rebecca Traister describes the progressive scholars, thought leaders, and organizers, who helped make this moment possible—including Roosevelters, alumni, and allies.

It’s a “once-in-a-lifetime paradigm shift in economic thinking,” as Roosevelt President and CEO Felicia Wong told Traister. 

Wong expands on Traister’s piece for the Roosevelt blog with a deep dive into some of the ideas fueling the moment.

“What we want is better rules,” Wong writes. “Rules that acknowledge there’s no such thing as a ‘free’ market because government structures our most basic economic interactions.”

“To create a new, more democratic economy, we must continue building new and stronger alliances and institutions…. The people and the relationships matter, and they’ve brought us to an unprecedented moment of opportunity.”

Read “Once in a Lifetime: Why a Sea Change in Economics Is Happening Now.”

Solving Standing’s Pro-Corporate Bias

“The regulatory state exists to improve the lives of consumers, workers, and families. Yet thanks to constitutional standing doctrine’s lopsidedness, these are the very people who struggle the most to get into court to prevent unlawful deregulation,” Will Dobbs-Allsopp and Rachael Klarman write in a new issue brief. 

Read more about how regulators, advocates, and legislators can mitigate the bias toward corporate entities in legal standing doctrine.

What We’re Reading

Connecticut Becomes First State in Nation for Baby Bonds [feat. Roosevelt’s Darrick Hamilton and William Darity] – Early Learning Nation

What a National Guaranteed Income Could Look Like [feat. Roosevelt’s Naomi Zewde and Hamilton] – Bloomberg CityLab

How Ableism Contributes to the Wealth Gap in America and What We Can All Do About It  – Time

The Climate Is Changing Fast. Infrastructure Should, Too – Fast Company

A Planned Biden Order Aims to Tilt the Job Market Toward Workers – New York Times