The daily business briefing: April 23, 2021

Biden expected to propose hiking capital gains tax for the wealthy, U.S. could lift J&J vaccine pause within days, and more

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine and logo
(Image credit: Getty Images)

1. Biden expected to propose nearly doubling capital gains tax for wealthy

President Biden plans to nearly double the capital gains tax rate for the wealthy to help pay for about $1 trillion for child care, universal pre-kindergarten education, and paid leave for workers, multiple news outlets reported Thursday. Some doubted the proposal could pass in Congress, due to Republican opposition. Goldman Sachs Chief Economist Jan Hatzius said in a note that instead of the proposed hike to a 39.6 percent rate, up from 20 percent, for people making more than $1 million, Congress would probably "settle for a more modest increase" to around 28 percent. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the administration is "happy to look at" proposals by opponents to Biden's plans who want to "fix our infrastructure" but don't like how Biden wants to pay for it.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.