Some of the reasons may be downright petty — the industry has every right to complain to Lina Khan at the FTC and Gary Gensler at the SEC, and to take issue with scraps of political rhetoric about price gouging — but corporate America is doing just fine under Biden.
And there is a strange asymmetrical assessment of the risks of the Biden-Trump choice: Companies are willing to accept what Biden has done so far but are nervous about what he might do in the future, such as imposing unrealized capital gains taxes, while companies are optimistic and confident that Trump will stick to his outlandish promises.
I have no idea where this confidence comes from. It's true that Trump served out his entire term and nothing went wrong. But he led a mob that tried to overthrow the government. And it's worth pointing out that nothing will go wrong under Biden. Meanwhile, Trump has significantly strengthened his party's control in Congress, whereas Biden will almost certainly be held back by Republican majorities in the House, Senate, or both.
As far as I can see, the biggest justification for this business apathy toward Biden is simply hurt feelings, which begs the inverse of my previous question: Why doesn't Biden like business more?
Biden has no business leaders in his cabinet. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is an academic and not a Wall Street favorite like Tim Geithner or Robert Rubin. He doesn't respect the entrepreneurial spirit of American business and doesn't put much effort into winning over the private sector. He should consider changing course on this and find something that benefits business on the regulatory side.
Democrats are currently fixated on the idea that Americans don't value the economy enough. That's not necessarily wrong. But telling people they don't realize how fortunate the economy is is not a good message, politically speaking. In contrast, bringing in outside reviewers from the business world to tell us how healthy recent economic growth has been and how risky it is to bet against Trump might actually improve the “mood.”
Former President Biden's chief of staff, Ron Klain, told a group of left-leaning intellectuals last month that the president spent too much time on ribbon-cutting ceremonies and too little time on laying out his vision for the country. Maybe he's right. Or maybe Biden should spend a bit more time getting to know business leaders and convincing them that he's not a communist and doesn't agree with Elizabeth Warren on everything.
The White House often seems overly obsessed with maintaining Biden's populist reputation in order to neutralize Trump. But politicians often win by acting unconventionally. One of Trump's strengths is that he is more populist than most Republicans, relative to voters' basic expectations. Biden can appeal to voters by showing himself to be more business-friendly than most Democrats, relative to voters' basic expectations.
