Dear John,

A presidency is not always defined by its first 100 days.

But as the first president to ascribe significance to the milestone, FDR knew well that the early days of an administration are both formative and demonstrative—signaling the direction and governing principles of the next four years with the priorities and policy shifts of the first few months. 

So what do Biden’s first 100 days say about our economic and political trajectories?

A new progressive worldview is emerging.

As Roosevelt Institute President & CEO Felicia Wong writes in a new analysis, “Policymakers are starting to understand that we must rebalance power in our economy and our democracy, and that government action—at the right scale and with the right structure—can get us there.”

That’s a big deal.

After 50 years of neoliberal policymaking that left our economy with less stability, more inequality, and slower growth, we’re experiencing a once-in-a-generation transformation.

A new macroeconomic consensus is embracing the need for large-scale investments to tackle intertwining crises—from COVID-19 to racial and economic inequality to the climate crisis—with the understanding that the risk of doing too little is far greater than the risk of doing too much.

A truth we’ve long known at the Roosevelt Institute—that economic outcomes are the product of political institutions, human choices, and rules that structure markets—is gaining currency in the Biden administration, which includes many Roosevelt alumni and allies.

And so far, personnel and policy choices have demonstrated more proactive efforts to center racial and gender equity, community engagement, and worker power.

Read our analysis of the first 100 days.

The American Rescue Plan is now law. More than 40 percent of the nation is at least partially vaccinated. The American Jobs Plan proposed last month and the American Families Plan—which President Biden will outline in his speech tonight—could transform our care systems, rebuild or create vital infrastructure, and mitigate climate change in significant ways.

But we must continue to rewrite the rules.

The Biden administration has embraced some of the tools of economic transformation, but not in all sectors or in all the ways it could. It must expand on overdue down payments with investments that meet the scale of this moment. And it must seed civic engagement and promote little-d democracy to rebalance power in our politics and our economy.

In the next 100 days, how will we know new progressivism is truly ascendant?

Learn more in “A 100-Day Progress Report: How New Progressivism Is Emerging,” and stay with us in the coming weeks for more analysis and insights from Roosevelt experts.