Joe Biden’s industrial policy is big, bold and fraught with difficulty

The president had a skip in his step as he walked to the podium in Licking County, Ohio, on September 9th. It was a ground-breaking ceremony for a new Intel factory, a centrepiece in America’s efforts to re-establish itself as a manufacturer of semiconductors. In fact work at the site had already begun, and a couple of yellow construction vehicles, undeterred by the occasion, continued rolling behind Joe Biden as he spoke. Wearing his trademark aviator sunglasses, he outlined the government’s plans to invest in everything from quantum computing to biotechnology: “We’re going to make sure we lead the world in industries of the future.”