Biden's top economic aide presents 'comeback' in hard-hit America

President Biden's top economic adviser will argue Monday that the administration is engineering a revival of economically disadvantaged communities across the country, based largely on anecdotal evidence and patterns of new federal spending in places like eastern Pennsylvania and Milwaukee, Wis.

Lael Brainard, head of Biden's National Economic Council, will use a speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington to lay out a detailed blueprint of the administration's efforts to bring jobs, investment and innovation to underserved areas due to the loss of jobs and industries.

These “place-based” policies often target former industrial strongholds that have struggled with automation and foreign competition. They are a cornerstone of Mr. Biden's economic agenda in several major pieces of legislation he has signed and much of his re-election talk. Whether voters see them as successful could affect Biden's chances in November, especially in industrial swing states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Mr. Biden “came to power with a determination to invest across America and leave no community behind. It works,” Ms. Brainard intends to say, according to a copy of her prepared remarks. “Communities that were left behind are making a comeback.”

Place-based efforts were included in several pieces of legislation that Mr. Biden signed, including bills focused on infrastructure, climate change and clean energy and semiconductor manufacturing and other advanced manufacturing, all of which Ms. Brainard planned to highlight Monday afternoon. The Departments of Commerce and Transportation have launched pilot programs to support neighborhoods that have historically been underserved.

Ms. Brainard will provide case studies of two areas in particular: Allentown, Pa., and Milwaukee, both of which include Mr. Biden. visited recently.

After his visit to Allentown, Mr. Biden told reporters that he was “really reassured that what we've done has had an impact not just here in Eastern Pennsylvania and — but — in the Northeast, but across the country. And we will do even more.”

Ms. Brainard does not intend to provide comprehensive national statistics to support the government's recovery claims, except a Analysis from the Ministry of Finance showing that low-emission energy investments spurred by Mr. Biden's climate law have disproportionately boosted lower-income areas and communities that have historically been dependent on fossil fuels.

Ms. Brainard will say that the Allentown region, for example, has experienced a “boom” in job creation and small business creation under Mr. Biden, after the administration lined up investments in the city's roads, airports and more region. But she does not explicitly link those expenditures and those trends.

Administration officials acknowledge that many of Biden's programs to help hard-hit communities are still in their infancy, and their effects may be difficult to gauge. But Ms. Brainard said in an interview before the speech that it was fair for Mr. Biden to take credit for gains in areas like Allentown and Milwaukee.

“In many underserved communities, unemployment rates have been well above the national average for years,” she says. “And what you're seeing now in those communities is that unemployment rates have actually fallen below 4 percent, which in some cases is a level that they haven't seen in a very long time.”

The unemployment rate in the Allentown area was 3.9 percent in November, according to the Department of Labor. That's down from nearly 9.5 percent after the 2008 financial crisis and 4.2 percent on the eve of the pandemic in February 2020, when Donald J. Trump was president. In November, the unemployment rate in the Milwaukee area was 3.1 percent, the same rate as February 2020, and down from 10 percent after the 2008 recession.

Trump has long promised during his campaign and in the White House to revive hard-hit American communities. He is making similar promises as he tries to defeat Mr. Biden this fall, a counterpoint that looms over the president's local efforts.

Although Ms. Brainard will not mention Mr. Trump by name, she plans to view Mr. Biden's place-based policies as the antidote to what the administration calls failed promises of “trickle-down economics,” including those of the previous administration . . That term has long been associated with Republican tax policy. By lowering rates for high earners and businesses, conservative economists have long argued, policymakers could stimulate rapid economic growth that would raise incomes for all workers.

The Biden administration has sought to extend this trickle-down term to include the outsourcing of jobs and factories to foreign shores.

The 2017 tax cut law signed by Trump included deep cuts to corporate and individual tax rates, but also included a place-based program: a tax-based incentive called Opportunity Zones, which sought to entice investors to put money into designated lower-income areas. areas. The program has continued under Mr. Biden, even as his aides have debated whether to try to change it. When asked whether the government judged this program to be successful, Ms. Brainard did not answer directly.

“I have been very focused on ensuring that the President's policies are implemented and that they have the effect of uplifting these communities,” Ms. Brainard said. “That has been my focus.”