Biden’s Economic Development Bet, Ending AIDS, and More

March 8, 2023

Aerial cityscape of Morristown, New Jersey.

Biden's big bet on place-based industrial policy

America's recent big spending bills – the American Rescue Plan Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act – show a recommitment to broad public investment, but they also authorize more than $80 billion for direct investments in specific U.S. places and regions. Mark Muro explains why this new "place-based industrial strategy" merits serious consideration as a compelling approach to economic development.

African nurse draws blood from male for blood tests.

Confronting global inequalities to end HIV/AIDS

In sub-Saharan Africa, adolescent girls and young women are three times more likely to be infected with HIV than boys and men of the same age. Tackling inequalities like this will be critical to end AIDS. In a new Foresight Africa Viewpoint, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima shares four practical measures for leaders to take.

Graduation cap and one hundred dollar bills.

The Department of Education doesn’t know what its new student loan plan will cost or who will benefit

In January, the Biden administration proposed new rules for income-driven repayment plans for federal student loans. How costly is the plan for U.S. taxpayers? Who benefits from the reduced loan payments? And what are the economic effects? These questions remain unanswered, Adam Looney argues.