- [Presenter] You're going to have a chance
to shape the American economy's future
if you're going to the polls in November,
that's because your two choices for President Donald Trump
and former Vice President Joe Biden
have much different visions about the path to prosperity.
Mr. Trump wants to double down on tax cuts and deregulation.
- Our movement is pro-jobs, pro-worker, pro-police
and 100% pro-American.
- [Presenter] Joe Biden has a different view,
he says he wants to raise taxes on higher earners
and also restore relationships with economic allies.
- Awful lot of hard work and people bust the mech,
all they ask for is a shot.
- [Presenter] Either one of them also
has to manage the country's attempt to rebound
from its sharpest economic contraction on record.
Here's how the two men stack up on economic policy.
The president and former vice president
are most far apart on taxes.
Well, they both say they won't raise tax rates
for middle income households.
Joe Biden does wanna raise taxes from the wealthy.
The Tax Policy Center says, the top 1% of households
would see their after tax income dropped 17%
under Mr. Biden's plan
but workers on the low end of the pay scale
could see new tax credits under Mr. Biden's plan
and that could lessen their burden.
- We don't need a tax code that rewards wealth
more than it rewards work.
- And for President Trump, the approach less is more.
- [Presenter] His 2017 tax cuts for now are set
to expire in 2025.
If he's reelected, President Trump says
he wants to make them permanent.
The president has also ordered the Treasury Department
to defer a collection of social security taxes this year
if he's reelected, he wants to make
those deferrals permanent too.
- No matter who wins this election,
the US is in a new era of economic tension with China
but the similarities on trade between Biden
and Trump end there.
- [Presenter] President Trump imposed tariffs
on goods imported from China, they're range
from 7.5% to 25% and more than $350 billion worth
of products that Americans consume.
President Trump reached a ceasefire
with China earlier this year.
- Ultimately, it's a great deal for both countries
and it's gonna also lead to even a more stable peace
throughout the world.
- [Presenter] The Corona virus has added a new chill
to the bond between the world's two largest economies.
It's going to make it hard to reach new deals
with America's big economic rival.
- The United States wants an open
and constructive relationship with China
but achieving that relationship requires us
to vigorously defend our national interests.
- [Presenter] Mr. Trump has also challenged American allies
like Canada, Mexico and Germany.
Biden won't move fast to take those China tariffs away
but he does want to repair alliances with other countries.
- Last week, I shared the outlines in my plan
to build back better, that plan rejects
the defeatist view that automation and globalization mean
we can't ensure our future is made in America.
- On energy and the environment,
the incumbent and his challenger are also worlds apart.
And that reflects a much different set of concerns
within their own parties.
- [Presenter] During his first term,
President Trump pulled out of the Paris Agreement
to reduce emissions and combat climate change.
Instead, the president
has prioritized domestic fuel production
and sped up or approvals of new pipelines
and other energy infrastructure.
His policies are meant to support jobs
in energy producing regions like the Appalachians
and West Texas, places hurt by the recent recession.
- We are telling the Washington politicians trying
to abolish American energy, don't mess with Texas.
- [Presenter] If reluctant, the president wants
to roll back regulations further.
Biden on the other hand, wants to rejoin the Paris Agreement
and make new commitments to reduce US carbon emissions,
that includes regulations
to cut commercial building emissions by 2030.
Biden also has a $2 trillion spending plan
to invest in areas like solar and wind power.
- When it comes to government spending,
if you look at Joe Biden's plans
or Donald Trump's track record,
you come out with the same conclusion,
it's go big or go home.
- [Presenter] The Biden plan would result
in $5.4 trillion of additional spending over 10 years,
that's a fraction of the amount the progressive wing
of the Democratic Party wanted
but it's still twice as large
as what Hillary Clinton proposed in 2016.
Biden's platform calls for increases
in spending on education, infrastructure and housing
in addition to the environment.
- I truly believe we have a tremendous opportunity
to turn this moment of crisis in a moment of progress.
The spending priorities aren't unusual for a Democrat
but conservative Republicans might need to make peace
with Mr. Trump's own spending habits.
Under his leadership, Federal spending jumped 15%
in his first three years in office.
A lot of that was on defense but not all of it.
And that was before the Corona virus crisis.
This year spending is projected to go to $6.6 trillion,
that's more than double the level
of federal spending in 2008.
With new taxes, federal revenues
haven't kept pace with the bills coming due
under President Trump.
The government has been funding those revenue shortfalls
with more and more debt.
Additional government borrowing
in President Trump's first term is set
to exceed $6.5 trillion.
That's as much money as the US borrowed
between its founding in 1789
and the recession of 2008.
- Under either candidate, there's simply no end in sight
but there's good news because interest rates are so low,
it's actually very cheap to borrow at this moment.
- Those interest rates
and other government financial policies
are managed by this institution, the Federal reserve
and one of the most important relationships
that any president has is what the Fed's chair.
Among 12 Fed decision makers, the president appoints
the chair and six other governors.
Their powers are vast especially in times of emergency.
During crises, the Fed lends money to make sure banks
and markets don't collapse.
President Trump appointed Jerome Powell to be Fed chair
and the President criticized the Fed leader
for not holding interest rates down to promote growth.
- It's a negative interest who ever heard of such a thing.
Give me some of that.
Give me some of that money, I want some of that money.
Our federal reserve does it, let us do it.
If Trump wins, he'll have to decide
whether to get Powell and other term starting in 2022.
- We need to stay in our lane,
we do have this grant of independence.
And I think to keep that we need to stay with
what you've given us to do,
which is maximum limits stable prices, supervise the banks.
- [Presenter] Mr. Powell did move aggressively
to cushion the economy during the coronavirus crisis
and that one praise from President Trump.
But the Fed chair has also asserted his independence
from a president who greatly values loyalty.
Biden will have the same choice to make
about giving Powell another term if he's elected.
President Obama and President Clinton, both Democrats,
each reapped Republican chairman for the job
after they became president in the name of stability
for markets in the economy.
Would Mr. Biden follow their lead
and which of these choices is best
for your own economic interests?
You've got until November 3rd to decide.