President Joe Biden used his farewell speech Wednesday to call out what he referred to as a nascent oligarchy in the United States. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Google Analytics appears to show that a lot of Americans had no idea what he was talking about.

This is the introduction to Checks and Balance, a weekly, subscriber-only newsletter bringing exclusive insight from our correspondents in America. Sign up for Checks and Balance. James Bennet, our Lexington columnist,

President Biden is sounding the alarm on the growing influence of ultra-wealthy billionaires on American life, a notion Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Treasury Department Scott Bessent refused to acknowledge during his confirmation hearing this week.