This week, Vice President Harris pledged to provide Black male entrepreneurs with one million
forgivable loans of up to $20,000 to help them get their businesses off the ground in collaboration with the
Small Business Adminstration, bolstering their potential and removing barriers for this group. According to the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Black Americans are twice as likely to be
denied credit by banks, regardless of their
credit scores. Further, the
US Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency has highlighted that limited access to capital remains the largest barrier limiting the creation and growth of Black-owned businesses.
The Democratic presidential candidate’s
website revealed that: “Vice President Harris will build an Opportunity Economy where everyone has the opportunity to not just get by, but to get ahead. She knows that Black men have long felt that too often their voice in our political process has gone
unheard and that there is so much untapped ambition and leadership within the Black male community. Black men and boys deserve a president who will provide the opportunity to unleash this talent and potential by removing historic barriers to wealth creation,
education, employment, earnings, health, and improve the criminal justice system. Black men deserve a president who will deliver on promises and equip them with the tools and resources to make their aspirations a reality.”
This includes providing Black entrepreneurs with
financial freedom, lowering costs to better provide for themselves and their families, and training with mentorship programmes that lead to well-paying jobs in thriving industries. Continuing her work tackling predatory lenders when she was Attorney General
of California, Harris also hopes to expand access to affordable banking options so that Black men and others that remain unbanked due to high fees to save, invest and build credit. In addition to this – and prevalent for the fintech industry – is the pledge
to support “a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency and other digital assets so Black men who invest in and own these assets are protected.”
Trump's campaign started
accepting crypto donations, following up on his prior pledge to become the first major party candidate to embrace bitcoin, ether and other
digital currencies. Earlier this year, DonaldJTrump.com released a statement that mentioned how the former President “has reduced regulations and championed innovation in financial technology, while Democrats, like Biden and his official surrogate Elizabeth
Warren, continue to believe only government has the answers to how our nation leads the world.”
In less than a month, US citizens will head to the polls and vote in the 2024 Presidential Election. As Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump prepare to lead from the White House in 2025, let’s take a look at what the Democratic
Party candidate as well as Governor Tim Walz have laid out and what the Opportunity Economy means for the fintech sector.
Small business and entrepreneurship
As mentioned above, Harris and Walz are prioritising entrepreneurship and small business, stating that these organisations, that include fintech startups, are “the engines of our economy.” Prior to this election race, Harris has notably increased access
to capital for smaller businesses and brought venture capital to areas of middle America that have been overlooked. This has driven “a record 19 million new business applications, tripling the Small Business Administration’s lending to Black-owned businesses,
and more than doubling small-dollar lending to Latino and women-owned businesses.”
As President, Harris plans to achieve 25 million new business applications by the end of her first term, over 10 million more than Trump saw during his term. Startup expense taxes will be reduced by $5,000 to $50,000, and the red tape that can making starting
a new organisation, will be reduced, allowing newcomers to get involved, join and flourish in the fintech sector.
Innovation
During the Biden Administration, Vice President Harris worked on passing landmark legislation such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the
CHIPS and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the American Rescue Plan. While in the short term this resulted in thousands of infrastructure projects and billions of private sector investments, this has also led to helping all Americans connect
to accessible, affordable Internet. This is incredibly important for decreasing the number of individuals that are unbanked, helping to improve tech literacy and increasing employment opportunities.
“As President, Kamala Harris will build on this Administration’s progress to ensure American industries and workers thrive. Vice President Harris will continue to support American leadership in semiconductors, clean energy, AI, and other cutting edge industries
of the future,” her campaign website read.
Energy costs and the climate crisis
As Attorney General, Harris held polluters accountable and cast the tie-breaking vote to pass the
Inflation Reduction Act, the largest investment in climate action in history. This Act involves decreasing household energy costs, “creating hundreds of thousands of high-quality clean energy jobs, and building a thriving clean energy economy, all while
ensuring America’s energy security and independence with record energy production.” Tackling the climate crisis will be a priority for the Democratic Party, and pledges to work to advance environmental justice, protect public land and public health, increase
resilience to climate disasters, to name a few points. She also made this clear at
COP28, where she stated her commitment to “fight for the freedom to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis.”