By Jiao Donghua, Li Qiwen, Guo Silu & Li Fan, China Development Research Foundation

Research Report, No.13, 2021 (Total 6078) 2021-1-29

Abstract: The research findings based on a comparative analysis between Biden’s administrative program and Roosevelt’s New Deal show that both aimed at strengthening the government’s intervention in the market to drive economic recovery and development in their administrative arrangements. Meanwhile, they all focused on resolving structural problems such as the internal imbalance of social distribution and the widening gap between the rich and the poor at home, and were committed to the reestablishment of determinacy for the middle class and the rebuilding of economic and class foundations of American politics. But Biden and Roosevelt faced different social and economic challenges from different sources, and the underlying causes behind the social contradictions in the U.S. and the degree of political polarization and the evolution of international landscape are also widely different. In the current political performance in Washington, Biden administration lacks a strong ability to integrate political resources. As a result, his policies could hardly bridge the political gap between the leftists and the rightists, and neither could they bring about fundamental changes in the social structure. On foreign policies, especially on strategies toward China, Biden administration still retain the conservative stance of Trump administration, with the Asia-Pacific rebalance as the keynote.

Keywords: Biden, Roosevelt’s New Deal, government interference, social challenges