Confirmation biases: Biden’s cabinet picks

The meeting between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will set the tone for three more this year. We examine what and what not to expect. Pepsi has been losing ground to Coca Cola recently; to catch up, it may have to become more like its rival. And th ...  Show more

Artificial intelligence could help terrorists develop new dangerous pathogens. Our correspondent asks how humanity can protect itself from machine-assisted biological weapons. Stock markets are soaring, despite the oil shock. What does this tell us about investor confidence in tr ...  Show more

America’s upper legislative chamber remains in Democrats’ hands; they may even expand their majority. We explain what that means for the Biden administration, and why Democrats outperformed expectations. President Biden’s biggest foreign-policy headaches involve China; we ask wha ...  Show more

The departure of one of America’s Supreme Court <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/justice-stephen-breyer-retires-after-almost-28-years-on-americas-supreme-court/21807405?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery. ...  Show more

America’s crash of deadlines carries risks for the government’s budget and just possibly its <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2021/09/21/what-is-americas-debt-ceiling?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third-party-host&utm_cont ...

Thanks to a parliamentary contortion called reconciliation, the $1.9trn covid-relief plan is likely to sail through—we examine what is in it and what its passage <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2021/03/07/how-joe-biden-got-his-sizeable-stimulus-bill-through-th ...