Promising a “new social contract", US president-elect Joe Biden has outlined several core policies which, if implemented, would mark a radical departure from President Donald Trump.
Three issues have been front and centre: racial inequality, climate change and Covid-19.
In June, Mr Biden promised “an era of action to reverse systemic racism", as America grappled with some of the worst social tensions for decades.
In some ways, these policy pillars are holistic: Mr Biden has promised “an economy more vibrant and more powerful precisely because everybody will be included in the deal”.
Tax incentives will be revised in so-called "opportunity zones", economically distressed areas where the government has attempted to spur economic investment, and a $30 billion small business fund will be established for these areas.
Community policing programmes will also receive $300 million in funding, in the hope that trust can be restored in some of the country’s most divided neighbourhoods.
But there is much more – if Mr Biden can get potential legislation past what is likely to be a Republican-dominated Senate.
Let’s take a look at the core policies Mr Biden and Kamala Harris, the vice-president elect, have lined up:
Research and development
Mr Trump promised to revitalise American power, but critics said he was slow to authorise spending on scientific research and development.
Without this investment, some feared there would be no repeat of the “American century”, defined by technological milestones such as the moon landing and nuclear power.
This would leave the US vulnerable to gains by the Chinese tech industry, notably in artificial intelligence, as well as military developments such as hypersonic flight – weapons and aircraft that travel over five times the speed of sound.
The Association of American Universities warned earlier this year that China is about to overtake the US in spending on scientific research.
Mr Trump responded to these concerns, earmarking $142.2bn in the administration’s proposed 2021 budget to prioritise the “industries of the future” including AI and quantum information science.
The latter has a number of applications, including the construction of supercomputers.
Mr Biden has pledged to go further, allocating $300bn over four years to scientific research and creating a separate fund for clean energy research, totalling $400bn.
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US Vice President Joe Biden reacts as reporters shout questions asking if he has made a decision on whether to run for President as he awaits the arrival of the South Korean President for lunch at the Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, October 15, 2015. AFP -
Democratic vice presidential nominee Senator Joe Biden and Republican vice presidential nominee Alaska Governor Sarah Palin greet moderator Gwen Ifill during the vice presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri October 2, 2008. Reuters -
US President-elect Senator Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Senator Joe Biden stand with Biden's mother Jean during their election night victory rally in Chicago, November 4, 2008. Reuters -
US President Barack Obama, his wife Michelle, Vice President Joseph Biden and his wife Jill are escorted by Major General Richard Rowe as they review the troops from the steps of the US Capitol Building after Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States during the 56th presidential inauguration ceremony in Washington January 20, 2009. Reuters -
Democratic 2020 US presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden sits with kids from the Union Baptist Crusaders drill team during an event at the Brown Derby Ballroom in Waterloo, Iowa, US, December 5, 2019. Reuters -
Democratic 2020 US presidential candidates Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, former US Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders, walk arm-in-arm with local African-American leaders during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade in Columbia, South Carolina, US, January 20, 2020. Reuters -
US Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden is licked by a dog as he chats with supporters after speaking at his party after the Nevada Caucus in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, February 22, 2020. Reuters -
US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks to reporters after a brief stop at the Villas at Horizon Village in North Charleston, South Carolina, 24 February, 2020. EPA -
Democratic presidential candidates former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, and businessman Tom Steyer stand together on stage at the start of the tenth Democratic presidential debate at the Gaillard Center in Charleston, South Carolina, 25 February, 2020. EPA -
Democratic US presidential candidates Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders do an elbow bump in place of a handshake as they greet other before the start of the 11th Democratic candidates debate of the 2020 US presidential campaign, held in CNN's Washington studios without an audience because of the global coronavirus pandemic, in Washington, March 15, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic 2020 US presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden walks off the stage at the conclusion of the tenth Democratic 2020 presidential debate at the Gaillard Center in Charleston, South Carolina, February 25, 2020. Reuters -
US Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden poses for a picture with Pastor of the Bethel AME Church, Rev. Dr. Silvester S. Beaman and attendees during a visit to the Bethel AME Church in Wilmington, Delaware, June 1, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic US presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign stop in Detroit, Michigan, March 9, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic US presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks about President Donald Trump's response to protests and rioting across the United States as he stands under photos of former Philadelphia mayors during an event at City Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US. June 2, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic US presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden listens to Carlette Brooks as she wipes away tears and talks about the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on her family and their small businesses on the outside patio of the Carlette’s Hideaway sports bar during a campaign stop in Yeadon, Pennsylvania, June 17, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden, his wife Jill Biden, vice presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris and her husband Douglas Emhoff pose keeping social distance after a campaign event, their first joint appearance since Biden named Harris as his running mate, at Alexis Dupont High School in Wilmington, Delaware, August 12, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic US presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden appears by video feed from Delaware to question voters about their situations in this video frame grab from the start of the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention as participants from across the country are hosted over video links to the originally planned site of the convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 17, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden celebrate in front of fireworks after Joe Biden accepted the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination during the 4th and final night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 20, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden, his wife Jill Biden, US Senator and Democratic candidate for Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Douglas Emhoff celebrate after Joe Biden accepted the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination during the 4th and final night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 20, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic US presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden meets with steel workers at a backyard during a visit to Detroit, Michigan, September 9, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic US presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden holds a copy of his schedule and notes as he delivers remarks during a campaign event in Warren, Michigan, September 9, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic US presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks to CJ Brown as he makes a brief stop at "Three Thirteen" clothing store to buy a few items for his grandchildren while visiting Detroit, Michigan, September 9, 2020. Reuters -
Democratic presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden and Vice President Mike Pence greet each other during the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City. Reuters -
Senator Kamala Harris and US Vice President Mike Pence both gesture as they debate during the Vice Presidential debate at the University of Utah's Kingsbury Hall in Salt Lake City, Utah, October 7, 2020. EPA -
President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden participate in the final presidential debate at Belmont University, Thursday, October 22, 2020, in Nashville, Tennessee. AP -
Democratic US presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks as former US President Barack Obama listens during a campaign canvas kickoff in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, October 31, 2020. Reuters -
US President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden participate in their final 2020 presidential campaign debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, October 22, 2020. Reuters -
Motorists celebrate after the 2020 presidential election is called for President-elect Joe Biden, Saturday, November 7, in Philadelphia. AP -
Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Harris, President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden on stage together, Saturday, November 7, 2020, in Wilmington, Delaware. AP -
With tears in her eyes, Alyssa Oemlenart, of San Francisco, listens in San Francisco to a broadcast of President-elect Joe Biden as he speaks after winning the presidential election, November 7, 2020. AP
Environment
Until recently, Mr Biden’s colleagues in the Democratic party have not shied away from discussing the cost of making the US carbon neutral.
In June last year, Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez remarked that a green economic development plan, the Green New Deal, would cost $10 trillion.
“People are going to call it unrealistic, and I just don't think people understand how bad the problem is,” she remarked at the time.
Mr Biden has referred to this plan – which critics say is prohibitively expensive and lacks detail – as a useful framework, but nonetheless plans to spend $1.7 trillion on a raft of climate-focused measures over 10 years.
That figure bears repeating: the entire global investment in renewable energy for 2019, according to the International Energy Agency, was $330bn.
Focus will also be international – Mr Biden has pledged to rejoin the Paris Climate Accords, but domestically policy will focus on incentivising investment in renewables and electric vehicles, while deterring environmental destruction.
Legislation passed by Mr Trump to ease restrictions on the US oil industry will likely be overturned.
For electric vehicles, Mr Biden has pledged to roll out 500,000 electric charging stations across the US in the coming years, also offering tax rebates on electric vehicle purchases.
In the power sector, Mr Biden has pledged to eliminate carbon emissions by 2035 – so we can expect a huge push for solar energy.
Coronavirus and the economy
These issues have strong crossover since the virus has wiped out 20 million jobs and threatens to destroy at least $16tn in economic value in the coming years, according to a report by former US Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers.
But Democrats and Republicans have been at odds over the size and format of a second stimulus package, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushing for $2.2 trillion and the Republicans preferring a smaller package of $1.8 trillion, having initially pressed for a much smaller $500bn relief package.
As the Covid-19 pandemic took hold in the spring, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARE) was passed, allowing the distribution of 160 million cheques and cash payments to struggling individuals, between $1,200 and $2,400 for married couples.
Failure to agree on a package before the end of this year could delay stimulus cheques to millions of Americans and struggling sectors such as the airline industry, worsening an already fragile economic outlook.
Because of the crisis, Mr Biden has pledged to tackle the virus head on, not only through his task force of health experts to guide government policy, but through ensuring enough resources are directed at the problem.
The president-elect has promised to allocate $25bn for vaccine programmes alone. Whether these measures can be agreed upon in Congress or not, one thing is clear: Covid-19 has put the American economy on the brink, and Mr Biden will be in a race against time to strike a compromise.
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Coronavirus around the world
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Afghans wait to receive cash from a counter in Pachiragam Khogyani district of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. Some 1,000 families received cash aid of $90 under the support of Japan. EPA -
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier wearing a mask because of the coronavirus pandemic arrives at St Pancras Station in London as work continues on a trade deal between the EU and the UK. AFP -
A Romanian policeman explains the newly instated curfew to a driver showing his identity card through the car window in Bucharest. AFP -
Kohei Uchimura of Japan competes on the horizontal bar during the Friendship and Solidarity Competition gymnastics event in Tokyo, the first major international sporting event in the Japanese capital since the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. AFP -
Worshippers get their temperatures taken as they take part in Sunday mass after the reopening of churches in Rabat, Morocco. AP Photo -
A man wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus takes a morning walk passing by posters tribute to the medical workers in different provincial on the frontlines against the COVID-19 on display at a park in Beijing. AP Photo -
Radiology personnel work with a Covid-19 patient at an intensive care unit of the Central Hospital in Mendoza, Argentina. AFP -
Bars and restaurants close for the curfew as part of the anti-coronavirus spread measures in Rome, Italy. EPA -
A photograph taken with slow shutter speed shows Indian people shopping at a market ahead of Diwali festival in Mumbai, India. EPA -
A woman and her dog are pictured in front a mural in honour to health workers as the coronavirus disease outbreak continues, in Mexico City, Mexico. Reuters -
A kitesurfing prorider surfs, in La Grande-Motte, near Montpellier, in southern France. AFP -
A mascot puppet wearing protective mask and glasses is photographed on the dashboard of a coronavirus ambulance in front of a hospital in Warsaw, Poland on the first day of the new partial lockdown. AFP
