The Biden administration’s efforts to vaccinate millions of Americans have achieved great success in 2020, on the back of programs like Operation Warp Speed, initiated by the Trump administration, but a new dilemma is rapidly becoming clear: the world desperately needs more vaccines. The world has administered a billion vaccines so far, the vast majority of which — 87% — have been delivered to rich countries. Meanwhile, low and middle-income countries are bearing the brunt of new Covid waves, with potential long-term implications for the U.S.

Despite theoretical bipartisan support for the revitalization of U.S. infrastructure, very little has been accomplished at the federal level for years. Big infrastructure bills have failed time and time again to pass in Congress, most recently during the Trump era, due to disagreements over how much to spend and how to pay for it. Now, with a Democratic-controlled House and Senate, there’s a narrow window to pass legislation with far-reaching impacts, and supporters posit Biden’s proposal — the American Jobs Plan — could help set the stage for American progress and success in the 21st century. However, critics on both sides have their doubts.

In 2021’s hyper-partisan atmosphere, it can be challenging to distill fact from fiction, especially when it comes to events at the U.S.-Mexico border. According to some, the recent influx of migrants constitutes a “crisis,” directly resulting from Biden administration policies. For others, it reflects anticipated immigration flows plus a hangover from Covid-19 and problematic Trump-era policies. But how far apart are interpretations from news outlets on the left and right? Do articles accurately reflect conditions at the border or are they manipulated for political gain?

Republican and Democratic legislative forces are at loggerheads over voting reform efforts across the country, with Republicans referring to election security as an “all-hands moment” and Democrats calling the For the People Act the “most significant voting rights and democracy reform in more than half a century.”

On February 16, as many as 4.5 million Texans, or about 1 in 6, were without power as the state plunged into record sub-freezing temperatures. For a state that prides itself on energy production and independence, the sudden inability to supply enough energy represents a catastrophic failure: people froze, water infrastructure was incapacitated, and at least 80 people died. In the aftermath, millions faced water-boil advisories, and some Texans have received power bills equivalent to what they “would normally pay over three or four years.”

Just weeks ago, the share price for GameStop, a brick-and-mortar retailer of video games, saw its shares go from $17 to $483 before plummeting back down to around $50 within the span of a month. The story gripped the media (the subject of more than 3,000 articles) and the public’s attention, painted as a David vs. Goliath story: small, plucky retail investors (non-professional individual investors) were taking on institutional investors (billion dollar firms, such as hedge funds, that invest with pooled resources) — and supposedly winning big. The soaring stock price finally crashed when popular trading platforms like Robinhood limited stock trading, coincidentally providing a way out for institutional investors who had been betting on the stock going down.

At the center of the ongoing tug-of-war in Congress over the next round of economic recovery efforts are competing perceptions about whether and how Americans need economic support. The country has deep economic divergences, with record levels of personal savings and a booming stock market, but also millions facing prolonged unemployment or eviction. Should we be worried about stimulus measures that do too much or too little? What kind of stimulus will be the most effective for families across the country and the economy overall?