Axios Event: Voters are noticing the economic impact of legislation passed under Biden administration, Sen. Kaine says

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Macroeconomic data is showing inflation is easing, but many Americans are still feeling the squeeze. At the same time, the overall economic outlook for the United States continues to look relatively strong as certain industries enjoy influxes of investment.

• Axios senior economics reporter Courtenay Brown moderated conversations with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Amazon Web Services SVP and CFO John Felton at the event, which was sponsored by the Progressive Policy Institute.

Why it matters: The benefits of corporate investment in the U.S. economy can have broader impacts for economic development, growth in incomes, consumer wealth and lowering inflation.

The impact of legislation passed under the Biden administration, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, has spurred a slew of private sector investment in growing certain industries like manufacturing and energy.

What they're saying: Sen. Kaine said that he thinks voters have noticed the economic impact of investments stemming from Biden-era policies.

• "The triple combination of the Inflation Reduction Act advancing clean energy investments, the Infrastructure Bill doing that on steroids and the Chips Manufacturing Bill doing that has been so powerful," Kaine said.
• "I'm going to give the 'Kamala Harris for President' campaign advice about their economic message. It should be: make, build, grow. We're making stuff again, we're building stuff again, and GDP is showing the result of that," he continued.

Felton shared insight into Amazon's investment strategy to prioritize the consumer as one of America's leading companies, noting that it hasn't changed much since he started at the company almost 20 years ago.

• "The core investment philosophy is still the same … in that it does start with the customer," Felton said.
• He noted that Amazon focuses on investing in local communities where the company has a large presence.

Sponsored content:

In a View From the Top sponsored segment, Progressive Policy Institute vice president and chief economist Michael Mandel emphasized the positive impact capital investment has on domestic economic indicators of success.

• "Capital investment in the United States is crucial. It leads to more jobs for Americans, it leads to better jobs for Americans, it leads to a stronger, more competitive economy," Mandel said.