Economics

US Gov't is going through a "socialist" cycle, resulting in the rather prevalent welfare-state and the oppression of businesses

Environment

Cities nuked during the GNX

Dust Bowl/Depression=Blight/Food Riots
Nuked cities were liveable in a matter of a year or two after GNX, although small hot-zones continued to exist for longer periods; pretty much all gone at the present. Bombed cities took longer to repopulate, due to ignorance and misinformation about nuclear consequences, and are far less populous than pre-GNX
Outlying areas of most large cities were completely abandoned (the Nethers), but during the Reconstruction, municipal gov'ts "claimed" the abandoned areas and started renting/selling them to new residents on the cheap; superintendents and maintenance workers, where they exist at all, are typically city employees

Australia, being least affected by the Blight, now occupies the top superpower position (=current US)

Real cops kick ass...not schlubs; almost superheroes. Rent-a-cops are still mooks (normally).
HiPo more like "Fed Marshalls" of the Old West
Well-funded SWAT often uses jetpacks on raids (Ref:MinorityRpt)

Smoking makes a comeback, to 1960s-70s levels, due to improved cancer treatments.

Land-based inter-city communication, power and such is pretty much a thing of the past, due to the inability of the gov't to protect hardware from Raiders and such throughout the Badlands (intra-city stuff remains the same)...no telephone wires or cables. Satellites are the preferred transmission method.
SBCTerminal, AKA YellowTerminal, replacement for public "phone books"