The year 2020 has been tumultuous for countless reasons. Presently the economy is attempting to claw itself out of the pandemic induced recession and public health experts are scrambling to maintain control over the novel coronavirus. But adding to the current uncertainty is the fact that 2020 is also an election year. Presently incumbent President Donald Trump is facing off against former Vice President under the Obama Administration Joe Biden. The polls currently project a democratic win, though if anything can be learned from 2016, it is that polls should be viewed with a degree of skepticism.

In the case that Joe Biden wins the nomination, it is important to understand what his economic policies will be. As such, investigating his economic promises and plans is vital to understanding how his governance will influence the nation.

On Wednesday’s Vice-Presidential debate, Joe Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris, promised the American public that Joe Biden will reverse the tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations which were enacted under Trump’s administration. Harris elaborated that this change is such a high priority for Biden that he will make these changes on “day one”.

Though experts have made it clear that this plan is rather ambitious. If Biden were to win the presidency, he would be inheriting both a raging pandemic and a recessionary economy. As such, hiking up taxes at the point of his inauguration would be a radical shift that could plunge the economy even further into a recession.

However, there are some things his administration could do to improve the tax system. According to Reuters this includes “beefing up Internal Revenue Service (IRS) enforcement to go after wealthy tax cheats who cost the United States hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue every year.”

Going after people who neglect to pay their taxes or find loopholes in the system may be a more beneficial place to start instead of dramatically and abruptly changing the entire tax system.

His overall economic plan also includes raising taxes on individuals who make over $400,000 a year to 39.6% and implementing capital gains tax rates for people with incomes exceeding $1 million. Moreover, the corporate tax rate would be increased 7% from its current 21% to 28%.

Overall, Biden’s economic plans are appalling to those on the right, and far too centrist for leftists. If Biden is elected, it will be interesting to see what changes he is actually able to implement.