Foreign Policy for the Middle Class, Explained

No audio? Hover over the video player, and tap the Click to Unmute button.

On-demand recordings of FP Live conversations are available to FP subscribers.

The Biden administration has made it a point to focus on investing in the middle class—even when considering foreign policy and trade. The White House has poured money into initiatives such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act to encourage domestic production and job creation. As a member of Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers and chief economist of his Invest in America Cabinet, Heather Boushey is one of the primary intellectual architects of the U.S. approach to inequality, growth, and job creation.

Is Washington’s turn toward industrial policy working as planned?

Boushey joined FP’s Ravi Agrawal for a wide-ranging discussion on the U.S. economy.

Boushey refutes critiques that Bidenomics is trying to do too much by tying infrastructure investments to childcare and workers rights, saying instead that it is offering U.S. companies best-in-class practices. For the full back and forth between Biden’s chief economic advisor and FP Live host Ravi Agrawal, watch the interview.

Watch Boushey, U.S. President Joe Biden’s chief economic advisor, defend the CHIPS and Science Act against the criticism that it is encouraging protectionism.  

Biden’s chief economist says that the United States is not looking to stop trade with China but rethinking how U.S. trade policies could benefit American workers. 

Heather Boushey

Member, Council of Economic Advisers and Chief Economist, Investing in America Cabinet

Heather Boushey is a member of the Council of Economic Advisers and chief economist of the White House’s Invest in America Cabinet. She is also a co-founder of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, where she was president and CEO from 2013 to 2020. Previously, Boushey was the chief economist for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 transition team and an economist at the Center for American Progress, the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and the Economic Policy Institute. She is the author of Unbound: How Inequality Constricts Our Economy and What We Can Do About It and Finding Time: The Economics of Work-Life Conflict.

Host

Ravi Agrawal

Editor in chief, Foreign Policy

Ravi Agrawal is the editor in chief of Foreign Policy, the host of FP Live, and a regular world affairs analyst on TV and radio. Before joining FP in 2018, Agrawal worked at CNN for more than a decade in full-time roles spanning three continents, including as the network’s New Delhi bureau chief and correspondent. He is the author of India Connected: How the Smartphone Is Transforming the World’s Largest Democracy.

Related

Upcoming Discussions

What China’s Economic Slowdown Means for the World

✓  

Registered

Ask a Question

Ask a Question

  1. Only FP subscribers can submit questions for FP Live interviews.

    ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER?

  2. Only FP subscribers can submit questions for FP Live interviews.

    ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER?

How to Reboot America’s China Policy

✓  

Registered

Ask a Question

Ask a Question

  1. Only FP subscribers can submit questions for FP Live interviews.

    ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER?

  2. Only FP subscribers can submit questions for FP Live interviews.

    ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER?

On-Demand from FP Live

Heather Cox Richardson on American Democracy

Historian Heather Cox Richardson has long grappled with questions of how democracy has weakened in the United States and how its citizenry can try to take back control. That topic is the focus of her new book, Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America. Richardson joined FP’s Ravi Agrawal for a wide-ranging discussion. 

  1. Only FP subscribers can submit questions for FP Live interviews.

    ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER?

  2. Only FP subscribers can submit questions for FP Live interviews.

    ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER?

Samantha Power on Development Diplomacy

Ahead of the United Nations General Assembly, FP editor in chief Ravi Agrawal sat down with USAID administrator Samantha Power for a wide-ranging interview. The two discussed USAID’s priorities for UNGA, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and how the Biden administration views the United Nations. 

  1. Only FP subscribers can submit questions for FP Live interviews.

    ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER?

  2. Only FP subscribers can submit questions for FP Live interviews.

    ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER?

The White House’s U.N. Agenda

As world leaders arrive in New York City for high-level meetings at the United Nations General Assembly, what are the White House’s main priorities? Linda Thomas-Greenfield is the Biden administration’s ambassador to the United Nations. She joined FP’s Ravi Agrawal to discuss the war in Sudan, the global food crisis, international cooperation in Ukraine, and the world’s progress in meeting the U.N.’s sustainable development goals.

  1. Only FP subscribers can submit questions for FP Live interviews.

    ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER?

  2. Only FP subscribers can submit questions for FP Live interviews.

    ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER?

Inside Taiwan’s Foreign Policy

FP’s Ravi Agrawal spoke with Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu. The two discussed U.S. relations with Taiwan, tensions in the Taiwan Strait, semiconductors, and much else.

  1. Only FP subscribers can submit questions for FP Live interviews.

    ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER?

  2. Only FP subscribers can submit questions for FP Live interviews.

    ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER?

Foreign Policy’s forum for live journalism, convening experts and world leaders.

Loading graphics