President Joe Biden speaks to striking auto workers on a picket line in Michigan, September 26, 2023 (CNN)

UPDATE 0957 GMT:

I also spoke with China Radio International and China Global Television Network on Tuesday about the political and economic dimensions of the US auto workers strike.

I consider the short-term and long-term possibilities while knocking back the China State outlet’s depiction of “crisis”.

Listen to Discussion from 35:44

Watch CGTN:

ORIGINAL ENTRY: I joined Monocle Radio’s Emma Nelson on Wednesday to evaluate the significance of the strike by US auto workers, including a “historic” visit by President Joe Biden to the picket line in Michigan.

Listen to Discussion from 14:02:

I start with the historic nature of Biden’s appearance: “Until now we have not seen a President join a picket line during an ongoing strike in an industrial dispute.”

It’s an important intervention in the context of the 2024 Presidential election.

But it’s also an important intervention in what it says about the Biden Administration’s approach to the US economy and to relations between business and unions.

If they can encourage the parties to reach a settlement, it’s a big boost not only for Biden in 2024 but also for the philosophy on cooperation in the auto industry and across the US economy as we face historic changes.

I discuss the changing politics around unions, with both Republicans and Democrats seeking workers’ votes and with a 25-year high in public support.

And I also glance quickly at the “circus” of Donald Trump, as he shows up in Michigan on Wednesday — hoping that the media will give him all the attention and ignore the seven other Republican candidates who are in a televised debate an hour later.