Briefing | Adieu, laissez-faire

Joe Biden attempts the biggest overhaul of America’s economy in decades

He is using industrial policy to create jobs, cut emissions and boost manufacturing

|WASHINGTON, DC

On a snowy day in January Joe Biden was due to visit Pittsburgh to talk about his plans for upgrading America’s infrastructure. Just hours before he arrived, a bridge in the city collapsed. Five cars and a bus fell into the ravine below it. Mercifully no one died.

This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “Adieu, laissez-faire”

It’s not just inflation

From the October 29th 2022 edition

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A Connect Four game board featuring a detailed print of the United States map on the playing surface.

Who will control the next Congress?

The new president is much less likely than usual to see allies take charge on Capitol Hill

Demonstrators wave flags and placards at a pro-Palestinian protest

Has the war in Gaza radicalised young Palestinians?

After Gaza, how will the Palestinians try to build their state?


Israeli soldiers stand next to a group of Orthodox men

A year on, Israeli society is divided about the lessons of October 7th

Hawks and doves, religious and secular, right and left—all the old cleavages are resurfacing


The bloodshed in the Middle East is fast expanding

Israel seems certain to retaliate to Iran’s missile attack

What Hamas misunderstood about the Middle East

A war meant to draw in the militant group’s allies has instead left them battered

After the decapitation of Hizbullah, Iran could race for a nuclear bomb

The embattled clerical regime might feel the need for stronger deterrence