As America prepares to transition to a new presidential administration, I want to take stock of the progress we have made together in laying the foundations for an economy that creates opportunity for all Americans. Over the last four years, we’ve faced some of the most challenging economic conditions in our history. Not only have we recovered, we’ve come out stronger, and have laid foundations for a promising new chapter in our American comeback story. It will take years to see the full effects in terms of new jobs and new investments all around the country, but we have planted the seeds that are making this happen. If these investments and actions are built upon, U.S. economic leadership will be stronger and the middle class more secure in the years and decades ahead.
When I took office, the economy wasn’t working for most Americans. It was clear that a fundamentally new playbook was essential. My focus was to transform the economy to improve the lives of regular Americans, the kinds of people I grew up with. That’s why I fought to invest in the jobs of the future, lower costs, raise wages, and strengthen workers and small businesses—because I know this will help American families and build the economy from the middle out and bottom up.
At that time, economic policy was in the grip of a failed approach called trickle-down economics. Trickle-down tried to grow the economy from the top down. It slashed taxes for the wealthy and large corporations and tried to get government “out of the way,” instead of delivering for working people, investing in infrastructure, and ensuring America stays at the leading edge of innovation.
But this approach failed. Too many Americans saw an economy that was stacked against them with failing infrastructure, communities that had been hollowed out, manufacturing jobs that were offshored to China, prescription drugs that cost more than in any other developed country, and workers who had been left behind.
I believe that, from America’s earliest days, we have been at our best when we have taken on important challenges and fought to deliver big things on behalf of the American people—from the Erie Canal to the transcontinental railroad, from the Hoover Dam to rural electrification, from the Social Security system to the National Highway System.
As president, I fought to write a new economic playbook that builds the economy from the middle out and bottom up, not the top down. I fought to make smart investments in America’s future that put us in the lead globally. I fought to create good jobs that give working families and the middle class a fair shot and the chance to get ahead. I fought to lower costs for consumers and give smaller businesses a fair chance to compete.
In what follows, I describe why this new approach is so important.
Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo
President Biden speaks about his Investing in America Agenda in Durham, North Carolina, March 28, 2023.
Investing in America’s Future
I have always seen the economy from the perspective of the small city where I grew up—a city with a proud history of making things in America, a city that fell on hard times when politicians turned their backs on communities like mine. Too many corporations moved their supply chains overseas and focused on quarterly profits and share buybacks instead of investing in their workers and communities here at home. Our infrastructure fell further and further behind, and a flood of cheap, subsidized imports from China and other countries hollowed out our factory towns. Economic opportunity and innovation became more and more concentrated in a few major cities, while heartland communities were left behind. Scientific discoveries and inventions developed in America were commercialized in countries abroad, bolstering their manufacturing instead of ours.
I came to office with a different vision. When I said I was president of all America, I meant it. I was determined we would invest in the places that have suffered from neglect and disinvestment: rural areas, manufacturing towns, coal and power plant communities, in red states and blue states. I was determined to create good jobs with family-sustaining wages that don’t require a four-year college degree. I vowed to restore U.S. leadership in the industries of the future—like semiconductors and clean energy—while fortifying our infrastructure and supply chains. I committed to putting the United States back in a position of clean-energy leadership and building a 100 percent clean power grid.
Investing in Infrastructure and Industries of the Future
We succeeded in securing historic investment laws to turn those goals into reality. My Investing in America Agenda—the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)—together mark the most significant investment in the United States since the New Deal.
For many years, this country’s infrastructure was underresourced and neglected. Since the passage of the BIL, we have been hard at work expanding high-speed internet, replacing pipes to provide clean drinking water in every community, and rebuilding roads and bridges and ports and airports in every state. These projects are creating millions of good jobs—many of them unionized—so American families across America will share in the benefits of the infrastructure investments. In the years since I took office, we’ve funded over 74,000 infrastructure and clean-energy projects in every state and territory in the country.
The construction of new factories has hit record highs. Already, tens of thousands of skilled construction workers are hard at work building the factories of the future. Soon, these factories will be hiring advanced manufacturing workers, and products from semiconductors to batteries to electric vehicles will be rolling off of these new, American production lines.
The Inflation Reduction Act is the largest single investment in clean energy in the history of the world. It is creating good-paying jobs and investing in American manufacturing, while also taking action to reduce emissions. It is spurring investments to build solar panels in Dalton, Georgia; to build wind towers in Pueblo, Colorado; and to manufacture and recycle batteries in Reno, Nevada.
Investing in Communities
Our place-based investment approach is creating economic opportunity in communities across the country that had been left behind. Our investments in high-speed internet and transportation networks are reconnecting these communities to jobs and revitalizing small businesses. We are investing in technology and innovation engines in every region of the country that will sustain economic development for years to come. We are supporting farmers that use climate-smart agriculture practices and ensuring rural small businesses can access historic development resources that will cut energy costs and increase energy efficiency.
Communities across the country are poised for economic comebacks. With the benefit of our special investment incentives, the places hit hardest by closures of coal plants and by unfair trade with China are receiving a disproportionate share of new investment, bringing hope to communities that have been left behind for too long. For instance, the first new American aluminum smelter in 40 years will be built in Kentucky, powered entirely by clean energy.
Patrick Semansky/AP Photo
President Biden at the site of a new TSMC plant in Phoenix, December 6, 2022. Supported by a CHIPS award, the global chip leader has committed to build three leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing plants in Arizona.
Targeted Trade Actions
We have taken tough but targeted actions on behalf of American workers, businesses, and factory towns to counter violations of our trade laws. China is using unfair practices to threaten American businesses and workers in sectors like vehicles and solar cells and wafers. That’s why we imposed tariffs on imports from China in key sectors. A 100 percent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles, for instance, is enabling American auto communities to continue powering the global car industry.
But tariffs by themselves are no panacea. To regain and sustain America’s lead in areas from clean energy to semiconductors, it is vital to couple targeted tariffs with strong investments in manufacturing, R&D, and workforce.
Advanced Manufacturing
While semiconductors were invented in America, for too many years politicians in Washington gave up on the semiconductor industry, and leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing moved to Asia. But thanks to the CHIPS and Science Act, some of the most advanced semiconductors in the world will be built in Phoenix, Arizona; Syracuse, New York; New Albany, Ohio; and Taylor, Texas.
Before the CHIPS and Science Act, 90 percent of the world’s leading-edge chips were manufactured in Taiwan. Some skeptics said America could never compete. They were wrong. With the benefit of a CHIPS award, not only has global leader TSMC committed to build three leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing plants in Arizona, but in October it was reported that early production yields at one of those plants met those at manufacturing plants in Taiwan. And America will be the only economy in the world to have all five of the most advanced semiconductor manufacturers in the world operating on its shores—no other economy has more than two.
My investment agenda is already attracting $1 trillion in commitments of private capital so far, not crowding it out. These investments are helping to strengthen our supply chains, so that we won’t be dependent on a single foreign country for the semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, or critical minerals that we need. And they are starting to create opportunities for workers, businesses, and communities to contribute to the strongest, most productive economy in the world.
This is my vision—a future that is made by American workers across America. It will take years to see the full effects in terms of new jobs and new investments all around the country, but we have laid strong foundations, and now it is important to build on and not reverse the progress we have made.
I was determined we would invest in the places that have suffered from neglect and disinvestment: rural areas, manufacturing towns, coal and power plant communities, in red states and blue states.
Supporting Workers, Not the Wealthy, to Grow the Middle Class
I’ve long seen the economy through the eyes of my dad, who used to say, “A job is a lot more than a paycheck. It’s about your dignity. It’s about your place in the community.”
But trickle-down economics ignored this basic truth. Tax cuts for the wealthy didn’t create opportunities for workers and their families. Instead, factory towns were hollowed out, and fewer Americans ended up better off than their parents. My middle-out/bottom-up economic playbook instead puts working families and the middle class at the center of all of my economic policies.
Strong Employment and Income Recovery
When I took office, the economy was in chaos. Thousands of businesses were shut down, and millions of Americans were out of a job. As soon as I came to office, I signed the American Rescue Plan that vaccinated the nation and got our economy going again. As a result, America returned to full employment faster than other advanced economies, and has seen the lowest average unemployment of any administration in 50 years.
The share of working-age Americans who are employed is at a multi-decade high, at over 80 percent. We’ve also seen record lows in unemployment for workers who have often been left behind in previous recoveries. In our full-employment expansion, the real pay of low-wage workers outpaced that of higher-paid workers, the reverse of what we saw under trickle-down.
The pandemic and the inflation it created caused enormous pain and hardship for families across America. That’s true not just for us but for every major economy in the world. But now, inflation has come down in the United States—faster than almost any of the world’s other advanced economies.
Investing in Our Workforce
I know how important it is to provide pathways to middle-class careers for the 60 percent of Americans who choose not to pursue a four-year college degree. The many investments I described above have provided an unprecedented opportunity to create good jobs in construction and manufacturing. We created workforce hubs in areas with new investments to align high schools, community colleges, unions, businesses, and local governments around stackable credentials that enable students to move seamlessly from the classroom to careers, and allow workers to upskill and secure better jobs.
To build the pipeline of skilled and trained workers for the industries of the future, we’ve also invested more in registered apprenticeships and career technical education programs than any previous administration, with one million apprentices hired during my time in office. Many of these apprenticeship programs are sponsored by unions, which means that graduates will earn a good union wage with benefits and retirement.
Evan Vucci/AP Photo
The president joins striking United Auto Workers on the picket line, September 26, 2023, in Van Buren Township, Michigan. Americans’ support for unions is at its highest level in more than half a century.
Supporting Unions
The middle-out/bottom-up playbook supports unions because unions have been vital to building the middle class by providing pathways to family-sustaining careers. When I came to office, union workers and retirees faced cuts of up to 70 percent or more to their earned benefits through no fault of their own. But we fought for and secured the Butch Lewis Act to restore and protect the pension benefits they earned. Because of this law, we have protected the pensions of over 1.2 million union workers and retirees so far.
Expanding unionization is essential to creating a fairer economy. The evidence is clear: Unions are the best way for American workers to get their fair share. I was proud to be the first president to walk a picket line with workers. I appointed strong members to the National Labor Relations Board who have enforced our labor laws rather than undermine them, as happened under the previous administration. It is no accident that union election petitions have doubled since I took office. Support for unions is the highest it’s been in more than half a century, and the labor movement is expanding to new companies and industries.
A Fair Tax System
The middle-out/bottom-up playbook is not just about giving working families a fair shot, it is also about asking the very wealthy and most profitable corporations to pay their fair share. We need to balance our tax system to work in favor of the middle class and working families, not the rich and well-connected. Tax fairness is central to building an economy that works for all Americans—where growth is broadly shared and we keep our commitments to seniors and have the resources to meet key national needs over the long run.
I promised not to raise taxes on middle-class families, and I kept my promise. Instead, I delivered tax cuts to help families raise children and afford health care. I fought hard to expand the Child Tax Credit because it is one of the highest-yielding investments we can make, cutting child poverty nearly in half in 2021. I also secured an expansion of the premium tax credits to make health insurance more affordable for millions of Americans, which helped lift health insurance coverage to record levels and doubled Black and Hispanic enrollment, with over 21 million people enrolled.
I also secured investments to make sure wealthy taxpayers pay what they owe and play by the same rules. After a decade of severe underfunding, I fought hard to secure an investment in modernizing the IRS that is already paying off. The IRS is already collecting over a billion dollars from wealthy tax cheats. It has successfully rolled out Direct File, offering millions of Americans a free and easy way to file their taxes for the first time.
I’ve long seen the economy through the eyes of my dad, who used to say, “A job is a lot more than a paycheck. It’s about your dignity. It’s about your place in the community.”
Lowering Costs and Helping Small Businesses Thrive
I’ve also long seen the economy from the perspective of my family’s kitchen table growing up, so I know that the high prices from the pandemic have been hard on American consumers. That’s why I have been laser-focused on lowering costs for hardworking Americans. Our work to help unsnarl supply chains helped bring inflation back down to the levels right before the pandemic. But even with pandemic inflation back down, many consumer prices are too high.
In some sectors of the economy, high prices reflect inadequate competition. And too often, politicians in Washington haven’t had the courage to take on big corporate interests when they use their market power to mark up their prices.
Promoting Competition to Lower Costs
Promoting competition is central to my vision for an American economy that grows from the bottom up and the middle out. I came to office determined to make promoting competition a priority for every agency. Fair competition means better choices, a fair shot for small businesses, a more resilient economy, and lower prices.
This is particularly important in health care. It’s not right that Americans pay two to three times more to buy a prescription drug in Chicago than it costs elsewhere in the world. I am proud that I took on the pricing power of Big Pharma and secured major cost savings in the Inflation Reduction Act.
Due to the IRA, people with Medicare pay no more than $35 a month for insulin, down from as much as $400. Out-of-pocket drug costs for people with Medicare will be capped at $2,000 starting next year. But seniors are already saving on lower prescription drug costs thanks to the IRA. In just the first six months of 2024, seniors got $1 billion back in their pockets with additional savings in the years ahead thanks to this historic legislation. Starting in 2026, prices will be reduced by 38 to 79 percent on key drugs for people with Medicare, and taxpayers will save roughly $160 billion over a decade.
We also worked to lower gas prices. After Russia’s war against Ukraine caused gas prices to spike globally, I undertook the biggest release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in history. I also encouraged oil and gas companies to take their record profits and invest in more production. Today, American energy production is at record levels—including record oil and gas production—and the price of a gallon of gas is below the level before the time of the invasion. In addition, we have successfully purchased back all of the reserves released while making taxpayers a profit of nearly $3.5 billion. By selling high and buying low, we lowered costs for families while securing a good deal for U.S. taxpayers.
Record Small-Business Creation
Fair competition is especially important for small businesses, which need a level playing field to have a fair shot to compete and win. Our competition and investment policies are unleashing a wave of new business startups on Main Streets in towns and cities across the country. In fact, we have seen 20 million new business applications during this administration—the three strongest years on record.
Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs have been leaders of this small-business boom, with Black business ownership doubling and Hispanic business ownership up by 40 percent since before the pandemic. The share of women business owners is also on the rise.
The Path Ahead
The bottom line is, the past four years have been marked by some of the toughest economic challenges in American history. We took decisive action and it paid off, with the strongest economic comeback in the world. Even while managing that recovery, we made generational investments in our economy and balanced the scales more toward workers and the middle class.
Outside commentators have noted that due to our policies, “President-elect Trump is receiving the strongest economy in modern history which is the envy of the world.”
It is worth reviewing the facts on the U.S. economy that I am handing off to my successor: Unemployment has been at the lowest average rate of any administration in 50 years. We have created over 16 million new jobs, and more than 1.5 million of those are in manufacturing and construction. Inflation has been brought down close to 2 percent, the same level as right before the pandemic. Incomes are up by nearly $4,000 adjusted for inflation, and unions have won wage increases from 25 percent to 60 percent in industries like autos, ports, aerospace, and trucking. We’ve seen 20 million applications to start small businesses. Our economy has grown 3 percent per year on average the last four years—faster than any other advanced economy. Domestic energy production is at a record high, and gas prices are around $3 per gallon.
When I came to office, I believed the only way for a president to lead America was to lead all of America. In fact, the historic investments I made went more to red states than blue states.
I believe that the economy as I leave is stronger for all Americans.
And I believe there is no country on Earth better positioned to lead the world in the years to come than America today.
Now we are at an inflection point. The next four years will determine whether the incoming administration builds on this strength. If it does, then 10 or even 50 years from now, U.S. economic leadership will be even stronger than it is today—proving that when the middle class does well, we all do well.
