Voters have punished Barack Obama and his party for the slow economic recovery, and expressed alarm at the Democrats’ larger policy ambitions. On Tuesday they gave back control of the House of Representatives to the Republican party, severely pruned the Democratic majority in the Senate, and elected a slew of new Republican governors. They voted for gridlock in Washington. That is what they will most likely get.

The election will add to the uncertainty already holding back the economy. Co-operation on added short-term stimulus and a longer-term plan to get the budget under control will be even harder to achieve than before.

The new Republican majority is energised and leans harder to the right. Many moderate Democrats have been purged. Mr Obama has a pragmatic streak, but unlike Bill Clinton, who faced a similar setback in 1994, he is no instinctive centrist. Broken domestic policies are likely to stay that way.