Joe Biden campaigned last year as both a moderate and a progressive. As he prepares to take the oath of office on Wednesday, discerning the policy direction of his new administration seems clear enough, at least in two areas: regulation and tax policy. On regulation, Biden promises a return to the aggressive and sometimes imaginative enforcement of the Obama era. His administration is poised to reverse Donald Trump’s deregulatory moves across the board. Environmental, labor, educational, and many other rules will begin to resemble their pre-Trump form. Biden will also turn back the calendar four years in finance. Some working in newer areas, like financial tech and cyber currencies, may be shocked. During the last great push for financial regulation, under Obama, these areas were so marginal in the financial landscape that they captured little or no official interest. That won’t be the case this time around.
