How policy and economics reshape tech, energy, and new industries

Across sectors, ambitious technologies and business models are colliding with political, economic, and regulatory realities. Self-driving cars face both safety incidents, like Waymo’s wrong-way turn in Arizona, and growing political and economic pushback that could stall deployment. In Illinois, energy and racing interests are squeezed by policy and financial pressures, from a business coalition fighting natural gas phase-out talks to horsemen stuck in limbo over the Hawthorne bankruptcy. Meanwhile, broader business coverage highlights how tariff rules, job data, and AI’s dependence on human labor intersect with the collapse of once-hyped innovations like insect-based food, underscoring that hype alone can’t overcome structural headwinds.