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
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.
On October 20th Mr Biden returned to the site of the accident. Reconstruction would normally take at least two years. But thanks in part to a $1.2trn investment in infrastructure that he signed into law, Mr Biden could boast that this time the bridge would be back up by Christmas. “For too long, we talked about building the best economy in the world,” he said. “We didn’t do it, but we’re finally getting to it. We’re getting it done.”
This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “Adieu, laissez-faire”
From the October 29th 2022 edition
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