JOE BIDEN’S administration has launched itself with striking purpose and drive, pushing through an initial $1.9 trillion stimulus package heavily targeted towards the poorest workers in the US. He is now following up with a planned $2 trillion “American Jobs Plan.” $621bn is earmarked to overhaul America’s creaking road and rail infrastructure, $300bn is planned for manufacturing, $221bn for affordable housing, $100bn for superfast broadband across the whole country and billions for research and development. In terms of scale, nothing like this has been attempted by a US government since President Franklin Roosevelt’s “New Deal” of the 1930s. Crucially, Biden’s plan builds in what his team are calling “human infrastructure,” with $400bn for health and elder care. We all accept that big physical constructions are needed to keep modern life going, from roads to electricity generation to, today, broadband internet. But it is also obvious that keeping society going also requires a great deal of investment in things that aren’t built at all — most obviously in care work, but also in education.