Opinions differ, but the early months of his presidency have seen a firm consensus crystallize around the idea that the new Joe Biden is nothing like the temperamentally conservative moderate most Americans had come to know. The old Biden was a compromiser, keen to reach across the aisle and strike bipartisan agreements. The new Biden, it is said, has embraced an ambitious and potentially transformative agenda more traditionally liberal than any in generations.

Whereas the old Biden accepted the post-Reaganite view that the role of the state should be radically scaled back in many areas, the new one hopes to lead the transition to a new American social democracy. The old Biden was a notorious deficit hawk. The Biden of 2021 has already passed a $1.9 trillion stimulus package and is seeking out more new spending.

The perceived change in Biden has yielded what can safely be called a deluge of media commentary drawing comparisons between the new administration and those of FDR and LBJ. However we choose to interpret Biden’s early moves, it’s a story that warrants considerable skepticism.