What would a Harris presidency mean for the economy?

Kamala Harris is well known for her forceful defense of abortion rights, her role within the Biden administration on immigration and border security, and her legacy as a prosecutor and attorney general of California.

But the economy is a central election issue, and there, her positions and policy goals haven’t yet been as clearly defined.

Her record does reveal, however, some clues about her priorities, including a focus on low-income workers, women, small businesses and middle-class families.

As vice president, Harris has largely moved in lockstep with President Biden on economic issues, and some analysts see this record as a road map. “In general, we think she’ll pick up the Biden-Harris mantle," policy analysts at Evercore ISI said in a note Tuesday.

Before her time in the administration, she sometimes differed with President Biden—specifically in trade and climate-related policy—often by favoring bigger governmental interventions in the economy.

She shed light on some of her economic priorities Monday in an address to campaign staff. As president, she said, she would push for paid family leave and affordable child care.

“Building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency," Harris said. “Because we here know when our middle class is strong, America is strong."

Spokespeople for the Harris campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Harris’s most immediate hurdle might be overcoming Americans’ dour views on the economic legacy of her own administration. Under Biden, inflation spiked to a 40-year high in 2022. The effects ranged from soaring prices at the grocery store to Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes that contributed to many Americans finding it harder to afford mortgages and