As presidents go, one would be forgiven for thinking Joe Biden is on the standard side of things. Winning the election with the glow of political centrism, the 78-year-old has virtually never taken a radical stance throughout his political career, becoming a standard-bearer for moderate politics. He was a reliable vice-president to President Obama until 2017, appealed to blue-collar American values, and provided a sense of security desperately needed in the new pandemic age during his campaign. But his first 100 days as president have surprised his party, US citizens, and the world in his policies’ efficiency and, importantly, direction.

Biden’s American Plan trifecta — focusing on Rescue, Jobs, and Families — has already begun to fundamentally change the expectations and workings of the US economy. His 1,400 USD stimulus checks for nearly all American citizens have been perhaps the most visible icon of his striking plans, which break away from the previously dominant paradigms of neoliberalism: free market-oriented policies, trade deregulation, and low government involvement in the economy. In contrast, he has approved increases in corporate and income taxes for the wealthy to fund government investment in immediate economic rescue plans and in national infrastructure and development over the next decade. This is particularly (pleasantly) shocking, considering that Biden had long been a proponent of the free market neoliberalism with which the US dominated the world over the past decades. However, he seems optimistic about the prospects of his U-turn: “It’s going to create the strongest, most resilient, innovative economy in the world. It’s not a plan that tinkers around the edges,” Biden said of his proposals. “It’s a once-in-a-generation investment in America unlike anything we’ve seen or done since we built the interstate highway system.”

It’s not a move that has been entirely unforeseen, though; an early Obama-era promise was to reform economic policy in this direction, but it eventually went unfulfilled either through unwillingness or inability in a Republican-dominated House of Representatives. The seed had been sown, however, and the combination of Trump and COVID devastation provided an opportunity for it to grow. Biden has given more executive orders in the first few months as President than any of the previous three presidents, undoing Trump’s “bad policy” as well as enacting the “Bidenomics” plans that are already becoming his legacy. 

It’s true that much of Biden’s big government stance mirrors 20^th century Keynesian theory of the role of government, and he is seeking to associate himself with the legacy of great reformers such as FDR. However, some economic commentators view this not as a cyclical return to old economics, but as the beginning of the post-neoliberal era. After all, Biden has combined Keynesian economics with both increased taxes and a strong nationalist streak with his “Buy American” policy that would make even Trump proud. Rather than repeating what has come before, he has combined the big government crisis response with the agendas of both left and right wing partisans, forming new economic policy to match unprecedented circumstances. 

Bidenomics is an attempt to unite a very polarized America, but his emphasis on domestic rather than international spending and increased taxes will doubtless also have rapid and far-reaching effects on the global economy through trade policy and ideological influence. It is also already impacting the rhetoric of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), long seen as the embodiment of neoliberalism, which is now recommending more aggressive taxation to face the costs of the pandemic. Though one of the most widely affected nations last year, the US is now leading the Western world out of the pandemic, and Biden’s policies are likely to be emulated. It is only with hindsight that we will know whether this really is the moment of shift to a global post-neoliberalist order. Bring on the new age.