NYC Has New Leadership

It’s Tuesday, January 4th, and this is your Morning Wire. Listen to the full podcast:

1) NYC Has New Leadership

The Topline: New York City’s new mayor, Eric Adams (D), was sworn into office on Saturday and his governing style has already sparked both criticism and praise as New Yorkers try to figure out what to expect from the city’s new leader.

Quote Of The Day: “…unemployment remains high, crime is high, COVID cases are high again. So how do we get our city back? …we will not be controlled by crisis.”

– New York Mayor Eric Adams (D)

Lev Radin/Pacific Press/Contributor/LightRocket via Getty Images

COVID 

Adams immediately signed two executive orders extending former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s strict COVID rules, including the vaccine mandate for private sector employees. Some critics have called him “de Blasio 2.0” for what they saw as a heavy-handed response to New York’s surge in COVID cases, which appear to be caused by the less fatal Omicron. However, Adams also signaled he wants to keep the city open as much as possible, saying Monday morning, “the city has to operate.”

Crime

Adams is a former NYPD captain and has promised to restore law and order in a city where crime skyrocketed this year. He ran against other challengers who vowed to defund or ‘reimagine’ the police and has vowed to revive a controversial anti-crime unit.

This week, Adams visited an NYPD officer who was shot in the head and met with families of crime victims. On his first day in office, he called 911 to report a subway fight while on his way to work. On Sunday, Adams said New York’s police officers will be “responsible” but also sent a harsh warning to criminals.

Going Forward

Adams may have a better relationship with the new governor of New York, Kathy Hochul (D), than de Blasio had with former governor Andrew Cuomo (D). Adams and Hochul have both signaled they want to avoid tension. Hochul said recently that the “era of fighting” between New York’s governor and mayor is over.

Image taken by Mayte Torres via Getty Images

2) U.S. Population Growth Reaches Record Low

The Topline: According to new data from the Census Bureau, 2021 marked the slowest rate of population growth in the history of America. 

The Numbers

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s newest population report, the U.S. only grew by 0.1 percent in 2021. The data showed that the rate of “natural increase,” which is the number of babies born compared to overall deaths, was 148,043. Divided by 50 states, the number is fewer than 3,000 people per state. 

Potential Reasons

COVID was a factor in the low growth. Throughout 2021, the immigration process was largely put on hold during the lockdowns, which resulted in fewer legal immigrants than at any point in the past two decades. There were also hundreds of thousands of COVID deaths which further contributed to the disparity.

However, population growth was already slowing before COVID existed. According to experts, there were two main reasons for the dip: the marriage habits of millennials and lower fertility rates. Economic factors such as student loans and increased home prices, along with shifting cultural norms, resulted in young people waiting longer than ever before to get married, and therefore, waiting to have kids. 

The average first-time mother in the U.S. is now 28 years old, up from 21 years old a few decades ago.

There is also a massive decrease in male fertility. Numerous studies have shown a 50% drop in sperm count for American men over the last few decades. One in eight American couples now say they’ve struggled with fertility problems.

Around The World

Birth rates are also plummeting in Europe and much of Asia. Spain, Italy, and Japan all saw negative growth in 2021, while every country in western Europe was under 1% growth. 

China, which for decades had a one-child policy to keep population growth low, is now reversing course, and begging people to have kids, offering extra fertility services and closing abortion clinics nationwide. The only areas with noticeable population growth were in Africa, the Middle East, and parts of South America. 

Political Point: There has been bipartisan support for measures encouraging population growth, such as increased child tax credits, but most political leaders haven’t addressed the problem. 

Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

3) Joe Rogan Joins Gettr

The Topline: Both Twitter and YouTube removed interviews between popular podcaster Joe Rogan and two medical experts, prompting Rogan to join the new social media site Gettr.

Quote Of The Day: “Our government is out of control on this, and they are lawless. They completely disregard bioethics … They have broken all the rules that I know of, that I’ve

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases