Biden should emulate ‘New Deal’, academic says

US president Joe Biden must strive to heal the nation’s divisions with an ambitious New Deal that works for the many not the few, a Dunedin academic says.

Prof Robert Patman, a University of Otago specialist in international relations, said President Biden’s chances of success depended on which initial strategy he adopted at a time of "crisis and challenge’.

He could follow his former chief, Barack Obama, president in 2009, and choose bipartisanship and compromise.

However, he should follow the bold example of President Franklin Roosevelt, who came to power in January 1933 and pursued a "New Deal" and "a radical policy agenda to confront deep-seated problems".

The US had lost more than 400,000 lives through Covid-19 and faced "critical problems like growing income inequality, healthcare as a privilege rather than a right, massive unemployment, worsening race relations, domestic terrorism and a severely damaged international reputation".

Mr Biden could succeed if he went for the radical strategy but would "almost certainly fail" if he emulated Mr Obama’s approach in 2009-10, Prof Patman said.

Mr Biden’s election was "good news for New Zealand" over bilateral relations with the US and Wellington’s wider interests globally.

For New Zealand, it would be excellent if the US started repairing its relations with the United Nations, World Health Organisation, World Trade Organisation and Nato.

These were "all very important multilateral institutions" for New Zealand, Prof Patman added.

Dunedin librarian Jay Robinson, originally from Iowa, said as a Democrat, Mr Biden had not been his first choice, but he now believed Mr Biden was the best person to unify a divided country.

Mr Robinson said last night he was celebrating Mr Biden’s inauguration, and also marking the end of a shameful four years with Mr Trump as president.

"It’s a celebration, too, but it’s a sigh of relief that this bad dream is over and that actual adults are at the helm now," he said.