The Inflation Reduction Act as an Element of Shaping the US Grand Strategy and the UN Strategy of Global Goals

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed by the US president on 16 August 2022, which provides the legal basis for the largest nationwide public investment in the economic, social and environmental spheres since the 1930s. The Act is an offshoot of the 2020–2021 legislative effort known as the Build Back Better Plan, which aims to create synergies between the US Grand Strategy to maintain the ‘exorbitant privilege’ of being the economic hegemon (resulting from the balance of power in the global economy and international politics, the status of the US dollar as an international currency and the oversight of the global reserve currency that has protected US sovereignty, security and prosperity to date) and the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, adopted in 2015 by 193 UN Member States. The assessment of the US IRA is relevant not only because of the attempt made to holistically assess US strategic policy goals, including in the area of sustainable finance, but also to isolate global development trends in economic, social and environmental areas.