Ruction

A disturbance or quarrel.

The Ruction is a weekly rundown of the top ten emerging issues from the past seven days shaping commerce + culture.

The Ruction is for communication strategists and global business executives.

#JoeBiden #POTUS46 #AmandaGorman #ArminLaschet #Germany #MikePompeo #Uyghur #Xinjiang #Genocide #Mars #SpaceRace #USChina #Russia #AlexeiNavalny #Water #ChicagoMercantileExchange #GeneralMotors #Microsoft #Cruise #AutonomousVehicles #Netflix #JackMa #Ant

Memo: The Ruction | January 22, 2021

1. Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th POTUS. Despite the COVID-limited crowd, the event marked a seismic change in political tone. Biden stressed "unity" in his speech, a stark contrast to Trump's "American carnage" theme four years ago.

2. A star is born: Inaugural poet Amanda Gorman was one of the inauguration's most talked about moments. Gorman summoned images dire and triumphant as she called out to the world, "even as we grieved, we grew." Look for an interest in poetry to spike.

3. Is this Germany's future leader? Armin Laschet, the premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German state, was chosen by a party congress to become Germany's Christian Democrats' new leader. This puts him in pole position to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor later this year.

4. The outgoing secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said China was committing genocide against the Uyghur population in Xinjiang. It is highly unusual for the State Department to use that word about atrocities that do not involve mass killing. Other US allies will be forced to answer if China is committing genocide.

5. Dueling Mars missions highlight escalating US-China space race: In February, unmanned spacecraft from China and the US are scheduled to reach Mars, offering dueling images of its barren landscapes. Both countries want to gain the expertise needed to dominate what lies beyond our atmosphere.

6. Alexei Navalny, Russia's most prominent opposition leader, returned to Moscow after spending five months in Germany recovering from an attempt on his life using Novichok, a nerve agent. He was immediately arrested and jailed. Navalny vs. Putin is an epic and existential battle.

7. US investors are now betting on water: DW reports, at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, investors are now able to speculate on water prices. This practice, meant to help secure supplies for cities and farmers, has not surprisingly drawn criticism.

8. General Motors announced a partnership with Microsoft. Vehicles being developed by Cruise, GM's autonomous-car startup, will be plugged into Microsoft's Azure cloud-computing platform. Look for more Big Auto + Big Tech mashups.

9. Netflix added another 8.5 mn subscribers in the final months of 2020, totaling almost 204 mn. Its share price soared by 17%, increasing the company's market cap to over $250 bn.

10. Jack Ma surfaced in public for the first time since Chinese regulators scotched his Ant Group's IPO and announced an antitrust investigation. Ma's participation in a live-streamed conference was enough to trigger a $58 bn sigh of relief - that's how much Alibaba's market value soared after a clip.