Biden says his team will create recovery for all, get economy moving again

Introducing his high-profile and experienced team to the nation, US President-elect Joe Biden Tuesday exuded confidence that it will create a recovery for all and get the country's economy moving again. His economic team includes Janet Yellen as the Treasury Secretary, Indian-American Neera Tanden as the Director of Office of Management and Budget, Wally Adeyemo the as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Cecilia Rouse as the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, and Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey as members of the Council of Economic Advisers.

“Let me be clear, with this team and the others who we will add in the weeks ahead, we will create a recovery for all and get this economy moving again,” Biden said at his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware.

“We will create jobs, raise incomes, reduce drugs prices, advance racial equity across the economy, and restore the backbone of this country - the middle class. Our message to everyone struggling right now is this, help is on the way,” he said.

Announcing key nominations and appointments to critical economic positions in the Administration, Biden described them as a first-rate team that will steer the country through the ongoing economic crisis and help build the economy back better than before. “This team is tested and experienced. It includes groundbreaking Americans who come from different backgrounds but share my core economic vision that given a fair shot and equal chance, there’s nothing beyond the capacity of the American people. Let’s not forget that the middle class built this country and unions built the middle class,” he said.

“And from the most unequal economic and jobs crisis in modern history, we can build a new American economy that works for all Americans. But we need to act now. And we have to work together,” he added.

“For the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs or hours and have had to claim unemployment, we have to deliver them immediate relief. This includes affordable health care for millions of people who have lost it or are in danger of losing it. Child care, sick leave, family leave, so workers don’t have to choose between work and family,” he said.

“Relief from rent and student loans. We need to support small businesses and entrepreneurs that form the backbone of our communities but are teetering on the edge. There’s an urgent need to fund states and cities, so they can keep frontline workers on the job. “We must keep vital public services running — law enforcement officers, firefighters, educators — as we did with the Recovery Act in 2009,” Biden said.

Biden said that the full Congress should come together and pass a robust package of relief that addresses these urgent needs. But any package passed in the lame duck session is likely to be at best just the start. “My transition team is already working on what I will put forward for the next Congress to address the multiple crises we are facing — especially our economic and COVID crises. And the team I’m announcing today will play a critical role in shaping our plan for action starting on Day One to move fast and revive the economy,” he said.

“They will help layout my Build Back Better plan; a plan that an independent analysis by Moody’s, a well-respected Wall Street firm - projects will create 18.6 million jobs. It’s based on a simple premise: reward hard work in America not wealth. It’s time we invest in infrastructure, clean energy and climate change, manufacturing, and so much more that will create millions of good paying American jobs,” he said.

“And it’s time we address the structural inequalities in our economy that the pandemic has laid bare. Economists call the current recovery ‘K-shaped’. Like the two lines coming out of a K, some people are seeing their prospects soar up while most others are watching their economic well-being drop sharply. For those at the top, jobs have come back and their wealth is rising,” he added.  

(Image Credits: AP)