President-elect Biden will spend 2021 trying to return America to what he considers a more normal time, while President Trump tries to block control of the Republican Party – all at a time when disinformation and alternative narratives are even worse.
- Here are five of the biggest stories this will shape America next year, according to Axios experts – from politics to business, technology and media.
Biden is going to be “a man on a small and lonely island trying to unite the country”, trying to restore civility and return to normal in an America where that is no longer possible, Reports by Margaret Talev de Axios.
- “I think the only thing he really controls is himself, and that’s [why] he will try to use the aggressive pulpit. “
Expected announcement of President Trump that he will run for president again in 2024 allows him to “freeze the Republican Party in place”, Jonathan Swan reports from Axios. The time is not imminent, but when it does, “he will try to control the Republican National Committee … and he will try to crush the Republican field in the perspective of 2024”.
- And for those Republicans who want to run in 2024 and expect Trump to walk towards the sunset: “He’s not doing that.”
The rise of alternative universes is on its way to get even worse, by Sara Fischer de Axios. “The information economy definitely favors speed and scale, as well as hyperbole. It does not favor measured facts and reports.”
- “I think a lot of people have turned this reality into a weapon, including the president. If you want to get a message across, it’s really easier to do it and generate more involvement around it by being kind of hyperbolic and lying than it is to be true.”
If any real movement to crack down on Big Tech’s power to happen, it’s more likely to come from regulatory agencies – like the Department of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission – than from Congress, Ina Fried reports from Axios.
- Yes but: “Technology companies generally move faster than regulatory agencies, even when regulatory agencies are actively investigating. This is not a good prognosis for change.”
The Federal Reserve “created this environment where there is no risk,” but it cannot last forever and Wall Street knows that, by Dion Rabouin de Axios.
- “It’s the make-believe economy … The nuts and bolts of buyers and sellers, of the market, of creating products and selling things, this is not going well. But the Fed just said, if the stock market fall, we will be here with our funny fake money. “