Lies Biden will tell in his State of the Union:

Truths Biden should be telling instead...

He should point out that he pushed for the giant $1.9tn American Rescue Plan, during the pandemic, ignoring Trump's fuck-ups with spending next to nothing.

He should point out that this was followed by a $550bn initiative to rebuild bridges, roads, public transit, broadband, water and energy systems. And in 2022, the biggest investment in clean energy in American history – expanding wind and solar power, electric vehicles, carbon capture and sequestration, and hydrogen and small nuclear reactors.

He should point out that this was followed by the largest public investment ever in semiconductors, the building blocks of the next economy.

He should also point out that these initiatives are targeted to companies that employ American workers.

He models himself on FDR, so he should point out that he has also embarked on altering the balance of power between capital and labour, as did FDR. He has put trustbusters at the head of the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the justice department. And he has remade the National Labor Relations Board into a strong advocate of labor unions.

He should point out that, unlike Obama and Clinton, he has not sought to reduce trade barriers. In fact, he has retained several from the Trump administration. But unlike Trump, he has not given a huge tax cut to corporations and the wealthy.

It’s also worth him saying that in contrast with every president since Reagan, he has not filled his White House with former Wall Street executives. Not one of his economic advisers – not even his treasury secretary – is from the Street.

Finally, he should point out that his greatest achievement thus far has been to change the economic paradigm that has reigned since Reagan. He is teaching America a lesson they once knew but have forgotten: that the “free market” does not exist. It is designed. It either advances public purposes or it serves the monied interests.

He is returning to an era where the government organised the market for the greater good.