It is too early to write up the legacy of President Biden. He has six more months in office, and in these volatile times, much could happen. But it seems worth looking back at what we now know will be a one-term presidency and asking: What will define it in history?
To me, the signature aspect of Biden’s presidency has been his big break from decades of economic policy. For almost half a century, the federal government has refrained from any transformative long-term investments in the American economy. (Even the large pandemic relief payments were for consumption, not investment.)
In fact, the defining fiscal policies of our times have been tax cuts. Presidents Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Donald Trump all enacted large tax cuts that broadly benefited the rich. The result has been an America that can be characterized by private opulence and public decay — $100 million homes in…