Checks and Balance from The Economist

By The Economist

News & Politics

What's Checks and Balance from The Economist about?

The Economist unlocks American politics, tackling a new theme each week and digging into the data, ideas, and history shaping the country at this dramatic moment. 
John Prideaux, The Economist's US editor, hosts with Charlotte Howard, New York bureau chief, and Washington correspondent Jon Fasman. 
Correspondents from across the US and the rest of the world plus expert guests - politicians, pollsters, professors - join the in-depth reporting and discussion every Friday.

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Checks and Balance: Left si...

01.21.2022

Joe Biden voters are more likely to have a negative view of the United States than those who voted for Donald Trump, according to new research from The Economist. A year since his inauguration, is this miserablism largely a result ...

Checks and Balance from The Economist episodes:

01.21.2022 Checks and Balance: Left side story Joe Biden voters are more likely to have a negative view of the United States than those who voted for Donald Trump, according to new research from The Economist. A year since his inauguration, is this miserablism largely a result ...
01.14.2022 Checks and Balance: “Refund the police” After George Floyd’s murder protestors took to the streets, angry about racially-motivated brutality and discrimination. They urged authorities to “defund the police” and over 20 cities listened. But now, with rising murder rates, many of those same places are increasing ...
01.07.2022 Checks and Balance: Capitol punishment “The former president of the United States has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election.” Joe Biden had harsh words for Donald Trump in a speech marking the anniversary of the Capitol attack. What has the ...
12.31.2021 Checks and Balance: Three chords and the truth Morgan Wallen became one of the stories of 2021 after he was caught using a racial slur. Banned from radio, the country music star’s sales and streams spiked anyway. The affair reinforced a stereotype of the genre as home to ...
12.24.2021 Checks and Balance: Merry Quizmas On this special holiday episode the team highlights the stories we didn’t get a chance to cover on the podcast this year. Plus a couple of mystery quiz masters from The Economist family join, and listeners try to out-fox our ...
12.17.2021 Checks and Balance: Nuclear option Nuclear is responsible for nearly 20% of America’s power generation and about half of its clean energy. It’s greener than fossil fuels and more reliable than renewables. Yet safety fears remain and plants are being closed. Will the climate crisis ...
12.10.2021 Checks and Balance: Taiwan wonder Taiwan is arguably America’s defining foreign-policy challenge. The calibrated ambiguity over whether the US would defend the island democracy from a Chinese attack is hard to sustain as China’s power grows. Would the US go to war over Taiwan? The ...
12.03.2021 Checks and Balance: Courting controversy The Supreme Court looks poised to place dramatic limits on abortion rights. Liberals worry this signals a conservative takeover of the nation’s laws, but the justices deny that they are politicians in robes. How is the Supreme Court reshaping America? ...
11.26.2021 Checks and Balance: Beef encounter At Thanksgiving Americans express gratitude for family, the harvest… and a big, juicy turkey. Americans consume the most meat per person, but that's not good for the planet. Could they cut back? The Economist’s Jon Fasman and his sons prepare ...
11.19.2021 Checks and Balance: America on trial The bare facts of the Kyle Rittenhouse case are not disputed. In August 2020 he shot dead two people, and injured a third, during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin. But to the right the teenager is an American hero and to ...
11.12.2021 Checks and Balance: Wall or nothing America has reopened its borders to vaccinated travellers, 20 months after they were shut. In that time attempts to cross illegally into the US from the south have soared. Joe Biden promised to undo his predecessor’s immigration policies, but on ...
11.05.2021 Checks and Balance: Right mind Normally a political party goes through a reckoning after a defeat. But, a year later, there’s been no post-mortem of the 2020 election for Republicans. Instead the GOP remains loyal to the man who many refuse to accept lost the ...
10.29.2021 Checks and Balance: Left behind The race to be Virginia’s next governor should be an easy win for the Democratic Party, so how did it get this tight? Democrats in Washington are struggling to pass a budget bill and fighting among themselves, the president’s approval ...
10.22.2021 Checks and Balance: Labour’s love lost Wages are going up and employees are walking out - some to strike, some never to come back. American workers have more leverage than before the pandemic. How permanent is this shift in power? The Economist’s Simon Rabinovitch takes us ...
10.15.2021 Checks and Balance: Face palm Republicans and Democrats don't agree on much, but in Facebook they’ve found a common enemy. When whistleblower Frances Haugen told a congressional hearing the company knew its products damaged the mental health of its young users, senators rushed to proclaim ...
10.08.2021 Checks and Balance: Cop out When Democrats took control of Congress and the presidency, it raised hopes that real change could happen in a criminal justice system tarnished by racism and police brutality. But federal efforts have stalled and progressive local prosecutors are hitting roadblocks. ...
10.01.2021 Checks and Balance: Taxing times Democrats are in a fight to turn President Biden’s signature economic proposals into law. They want to raise the top rates of income tax and increase corporate tax to fund them. It would be the first big hike in federal ...
09.24.2021 Checks and Balance: AUKUS ruckus Occasionally, you can see big shifts in foreign policy happen right before your eyes. The unveiling of AUKUS, the trilateral defence pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, was one of those rare occasions. What does AUKUS ...
09.17.2021 Checks and Balance: Life choices When the Supreme Court declined to block a Texas law prohibiting most abortions after six weeks, it gave the strongest signal yet that its conservative majority is prepared to deny women the right to an abortion. Nearly fifty years after ...
09.10.2021 Checks and Balance: Twenty years later America set out to reshape the world order after the attacks of September 11th. Today it is easy to conclude that its foreign policy has been abandoned on a runway at Kabul airport. Is the era of American interventionism over? ...
09.03.2021 Checks and Balance: The great awokening A loose set of once-radical ideas about identity, social justice and self-expression has leapt from university campuses to permeate politics and the press, spilling onto the streets and beginning to spread into schools. We investigate how this progressive revolution is ...
08.27.2021 Checks and Balance: Bay botch San Francisco avoided a heavy toll from covid-19, but may feel the virus’s impact longer than other places. The city’s economy is stuttering as tech workers stay home. Emigration, crime, and poorly-run schools need fixing, just as a series of ...
08.20.2021 Checks and Balance: The reckoning As the withdrawal from Afghanistan descends into chaos, we consider failures in intelligence, the international reaction to America’s disorderly exit and whether decades of American involvement leave any positive legacy for the Afghan people. The Economist's US editor John Prideaux ...
08.13.2021 Checks and Balance: The western paradox More Americans are moving to western states in search of beautiful landscapes, cheaper housing and lower taxes. Yet wildfires, soaring temperatures and water shortages are making the West less hospitable. It’s an old Western theme: man versus nature. Does nature ...
08.06.2021 Checks and Balance: Gimme shelter A federal moratorium on evictions during the pandemic has been extended after protests by left-wing members of Congress. As homelessness grows more visible, the pandemic has spawned rare momentum and funds to tackle the problem. Can it be fixed? Peter ...
07.30.2021 Checks and Balance: Vax wielding Since Joe Biden declared a “return to normal” on July 4th, the covid-19 Delta variant has knocked America’s pandemic recovery off course. Why are so many Americans still unvaccinated and can they be persuaded? We report from Arkansas, which is ...
07.23.2021 Checks and Balance: Cuba libre? The Biden administration has announced new sanctions against Cuba, as the communist regime cracks down on the biggest protests in decades. How might the president's pledge to support democracy around the world play out in Cuba? Miami political consultant Fernand ...
07.16.2021 Checks and Balance: Trading places What is President Biden's new China doctrine and will it work? The Economist's Beijing bureau chief looks back 20 years to the beginning of the era of engagement between the two superpowers. And, as their governments' relationship worsens, how do ...
07.09.2021 Checks and Balance: History test Twenty six Republican-led states have legislated to stop critical race theory being taught in schools. Local school board meetings have seen angry protests. What should Americans learn about their history? We speak to historian Gary Nash of UCLA, who helped ...
07.02.2021 Checks and Balance: Steal works Election administration used to be a sleepy corner of American bureaucracy. Now it’s the latest victim of extreme polarisation. A privately-funded audit of votes by Republicans in Arizona reveals how democratic norms continue to erode since Donald Trump left office. ...
06.25.2021 Checks and Balance: Recovery time As America reopens, new business creation is at record levels and there is upward pressure on wages for the first time in decades. How has the pandemic restructured the American economy? The Economist’s editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes joins the panel. ...
06.18.2021 Checks and Balance: Agenda bender In his first one hundred days Joe Biden looked ruthless, but his ambitious legislative agenda has since hit a wall. A series of crucial votes are expected in the coming month. Is gridlock inevitable? Sarah Binder of George Washington University ...
06.11.2021 Checks and Balance: After math On his first overseas trip as president, Joe Biden has promised to send 500m covid-19 jabs to countries that need them. America’s vaccine success is making up for its failure to control the virus last year. Is the pandemic over ...
06.04.2021 Checks and Balance: Merit where it’s due The belief that people should advance according to their abilities rather than family pedigree is one of history’s most revolutionary ideas. But the meritocratic ideal that has inspired Americans since Thomas Jefferson has lost its lustre. Social mobility has stalled ...
05.28.2021 Checks and Balance: Texas carry’em Texas legislators only meet every other year. Their most conservative session in a generation just relaxed gun laws and restricted abortion. Might Republican strength in Texas ease the hangover from the Trump presidency? Mark Jones of Rice University, Harris County ...
05.21.2021 Checks and Balance: One year on The idea that racism is resistant to laws meant to end it originated in academia a generation ago. It’s become more mainstream since the murder of George Floyd and the protests that followed. How helpful is this way of thinking ...
05.14.2021 Checks and Balance: Smart attack A ransomware attack shut down a vital fuel pipeline on the east coast. President Biden’s plans to upgrade the hi-tech energy infrastructure may make it yet more vulnerable to hackers. Is America properly protected from cyber attack? Michael Tran of ...
05.07.2021 Checks and Balance: Crime without punishment Big-city homicide rates have spiked during the pandemic. St Louis has America’s highest murder rate and nearly two thirds go unsolved. What happens when so many cases are left cold? Sharon Williams’ son Mikey was shot and killed. His case ...
04.30.2021 Checks and Balance: 100 days of aptitude A portrait of Franklin Roosevelt hangs in the Oval Office, where Joe Biden convenes historians to share how his hero began changing the country in his very first weeks as president. But the new president faces tough trade-offs to secure ...
04.23.2021 Checks and Balance: Vlad, bad and dangerous Vladimir Putin has responded to a new US administration with typical thuggery. Russia’s main opposition leader is in prison and its military is again threatening Ukraine. Can Joe Biden deal with Russia more effectively than past presidents? The Economist’s James ...
04.16.2021 Checks and Balance: CEOutrage American companies used to keep quiet about politics, relying on behind the scenes donations and lobbying. But they are increasingly speaking out on a range of issues— most recently on Georgia’s restrictive new voting laws. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, of the Yale ...
04.09.2021 Checks and Balance: Space race American house prices have risen more steeply during the pandemic than at any time in the last 15 years. Buyers are swapping big cities for suburbs and smaller, sunnier cities in the South and Mountain West. How might this reshuffle ...
04.02.2021 Checks and Balance: Chain reaction A container ship stuck in the Suez canal, tensions with China, and the vaccine race have combined to make America’s supply chains look vulnerable. President Biden has ordered a security review and his infrastructure plan includes measures to protect them. ...
03.26.2021 Checks and Balance: Size matters President Biden wants a big infrastructure bill to follow the stimulus cash he has handed out. It would add up to a $5 trillion overhaul of America. A splurge on this scale has long been taboo in mainstream politics. Is ...
03.19.2021 Checks and Balance: No vacancy “Don’t come over” is Joe Biden’s message to migrants. Rumours that it’s easier to enter the United States since he became president are fuelling a humanitarian crisis at the southern border. The president needs a firmer grip on the issue, ...
03.12.2021 Checks and Balance: Fixer upper President Biden’s vast economic rescue package has passed without scrutiny or input from Republicans. Meanwhile House Democrats’ plan to protect voting rights will founder so long as the Senate has the filibuster. What’s the best way to fix American democracy? ...
03.05.2021 Checks and Balance: Sequel opportunities Donald Trump has emerged from purdah at a meeting of conservative activists, hinting at another presidential run. Even in defeat the former President retains control of a party united in antipathy to liberal elites. Where does cleaving to culture leave ...
02.26.2021 Checks and Balance: Back problems “America is back” President Biden has told allies. Hard power, including a fearsome nuclear weapons arsenal, is the foundation of America’s global influence. But many Democrats would like to demilitarise foreign policy. Can Joe Biden live up to his own ...
02.19.2021 Checks and Balance: The switch Plans to overhaul American energy will soon come before Congress. There will never be a better chance for Joe Biden to show real ambition on climate. If the blackouts in Texas are any guide, it would not just be the ...
02.12.2021 Checks and Balance: Lacking class Nearly half America’s children are yet to return to the classroom a year after the pandemic began. President Biden says it’s a national emergency, but he has already diluted a pledge to reopen the majority of schools in his first ...

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