WEBVTT - Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend-January 23, 2021 0:00:01.080 --> 0:00:05.119 This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Bloomberg 0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:08.879 Quick Takes Tim Stenovic from Bloomberg Radio. Hi. I am 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:12.280 Carol Masser and I'm Tim Stenovick of Bloomberg Quicktake. Welcome 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:15.680 to the weekend edition of Bloomberg Business Week. Weekend. It's here. 0:00:15.720 --> 0:00:18.040 It's week forty five. Though working from home still for 0:00:18.160 --> 0:00:21.000 so many we were at corporate headquarters for Bloomberg in 0:00:21.040 --> 0:00:23.280 New York City. A week was so much going on. 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:25.239 A new US president was sworn in, and a week 0:00:25.239 --> 0:00:29.080 where US virus cases topping four hundred thousand, Tim and counting. Wow, 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:32.360 a grim milestone, Carol, and it certainly shows that front 0:00:32.400 --> 0:00:35.479 and center for the Biden administration on day one is 0:00:35.479 --> 0:00:38.400 the virus and the recovery. This is the main backdrop 0:00:38.479 --> 0:00:41.120 for this week's magazine, the Year Ahead issue, covering the 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:45.120 major trends, disruptions, breakthrough products, innovations and movements to watch 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:46.600 for this year. I feel like there's so much to 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:48.760 watch this year. We'll have a few highlights from the 0:00:48.800 --> 0:00:51.800 magazine and also from our daily radio show, including former 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:55.160 Obama campaign consultant Spencer Critchley. He's also the author of 0:00:55.200 --> 0:00:58.000 Patriots of two nations where Trump was inevitable and what 0:00:58.120 --> 0:01:00.520 happens next. You and I love this conversation. We do. 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:03.200 I love talking to Spencer and Carol. We're also gonna 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:06.440 have the latest on COVID nineteen vaccinations. They are not 0:01:06.520 --> 0:01:09.080 happening fast enough. There's still a lot of bureaucracy and 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:11.640 red tape. Go to voice on the front line, Surgical 0:01:11.680 --> 0:01:14.400 Solution CEO ALYSSA wrap. All right, so all of that 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:17.360 to come. We're going to begin with this week's cover story. Well, 0:01:17.800 --> 0:01:20.680 the kind of story is really all about the year ahead, 0:01:20.800 --> 0:01:23.759 but kind of tying it together for us was our 0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:28.120 Peter Coy. He talked about more vaccinations, more stimulus, more sanity. 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:31.480 He gave us kind of the guide toe and Tim 0:01:31.480 --> 0:01:33.720 I got to say, I love the tagline for this one. 0:01:33.760 --> 0:01:36.240 The economic outlook is starting to brighten, but the world 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:38.399 well it still needs a shot in the arm. Yeah. 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:40.720 I certainly need that shot in the arm. We've got 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:43.640 more on that with Bloomberg business Week Economics editor Peter 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:47.039 Coy and Bloomberg business Week Editor Joel Weber. We tried 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:50.840 to be slightly lighthearted and go with this tabloid look, 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:54.800 which really just started with us asking a bunch of questions. 0:01:54.840 --> 0:01:59.000 And as we kept asking questions, I kept adding exclamation marks. 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:01.240 I think the big debate on the staff is whether 0:02:02.040 --> 0:02:04.600 one is the year of the exclamation mark or the 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:07.200 year of the question mark. UM. Right now it feels 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:10.400 more like the latter. Just tons of questions. And as 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:13.359 we started UM asking those questions, though we we did. 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:16.440 I mean, it's the tabloid thing is fun, but we 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:18.920 we take this very seriously and we tried to just 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:22.040 pack it full of as much useful information as we can. 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:24.960 That's where Peter came in with the intro obviously, and 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:26.960 you know that. I think the real takeaway Peter is, 0:02:27.520 --> 0:02:31.640 you know, our economic outlook is basically UM wedded to 0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:36.400 the number of vaccinations that the US is able to do, 0:02:36.520 --> 0:02:38.720 and that goes for the rest of the world as well. 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:41.320 So what does that outlook sort of look like? UM 0:02:41.480 --> 0:02:45.760 from your reporting. If you look at the GDP forecasts 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:49.160 for the world and and the US and many other countries, 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:52.399 they look pretty good. You would think, wow, nice, that's 0:02:52.400 --> 0:02:56.320 healthy growth for example for the world five, for the 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:59.720 US three. But you have to keep in mind does 0:02:59.800 --> 0:03:02.679 ASK off a very low base. So what's happened is 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:06.880 that was an awful year, and we're getting a rebound, 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:09.360 So it looks good, but we're not even rebounding all 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:12.600 the way back to the trajector we were on. Uh, 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:14.560 you know, it's it's like the I don't know, maybe 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:16.600 I'm just glass is half empty kind of guy, but 0:03:16.720 --> 0:03:21.280 I'm not super happy about this. Oh, come on, maybe 0:03:21.280 --> 0:03:25.359 you're just a realist, Peter. Yeah, okay, Well, is there 0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:27.000 any I mean, is there any good news? Did you 0:03:27.000 --> 0:03:29.560 find anything to be optimistic about in your reporting? No? 0:03:29.720 --> 0:03:32.240 I mean, the obvious thing is that the vaccines were 0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:35.880 developed far faster than you know, a lot of scientists 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:39.800 have been expecting. That's a huge positive. It is taking 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:43.680 a while to get them distributed, but the US is actually, 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:46.440 even though if you're living in the US it feels 0:03:46.520 --> 0:03:49.400 kind of slow, the US has has done a higher 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:52.640 percentage of its population getting vaccines than most other countries. 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:55.120 And I do believe that we're going to get our 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:59.120 act together eventually, and that this will end up being 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:02.440 um the year when the tide really does turn on 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:04.160 the vaccine the second half is going to look better 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:08.000 in the first half, and so it also looks different 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:10.960 elsewhere in the world, Peter Um. In one place that 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:14.640 it looks completely different is China, which even though they 0:04:14.680 --> 0:04:18.720 haven't really done mass vaccinations yet, the economy remains to 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:23.240 you know, it didn't skip a beat last year. Only uh, 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:26.159 you know, major economy that didn't have a contraction. And 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:29.840 you know, here here we are projecting that you know, 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:32.560 they will become the world's largest economy in just a 0:04:32.600 --> 0:04:36.560 couple more years. Um. What from an economy standpoint, Just 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:40.760 how how legit are those Chinese numbers? You know, you 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:45.200 never know whether to trust any given year, but it's 0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:49.919 certainly true that relatively speaking, they did better than the 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:51.760 rest of the world. I mean, it's just obvious just 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:56.760 walking around the streets of Beijing or Shanghai that people 0:04:56.800 --> 0:05:00.240 are going to restaurants, are going to theaters there, kids 0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:03.000 are going to school just as normal people are going 0:05:03.040 --> 0:05:07.680 to work, just as normal traveling. Um, that's just evidence 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:12.360 that they've got the virus under control through you know, 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:15.640 blocking and tackling, doing the basics right. So they had, 0:05:16.040 --> 0:05:18.800 as Joel said, positive growth last year, and they expected 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:22.039 to have a strong growth this year. When you when 0:05:22.040 --> 0:05:24.200 you look in your intro, you had a couple of 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:26.560 other countries that that stood out to you. What are 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:29.720 the other ones that that you feel are gonna you know, 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:32.600 the ones that will continue to talk about this year. Well, 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:36.160 the UK had a terrible They did much worse than 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:39.040 the US. US probably had about a three point six 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:43.800 decline in GDP UK over ten decline in g d 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:48.400 p UM. So uh Boris Johnson has his hands full 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:52.480 trying to fix that and now looking so good so 0:05:52.600 --> 0:05:58.600 far with more lockdowns to try to suppress the virus um. 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:03.159 Germany is done somewhat better. Germany has a bad habit 0:06:03.279 --> 0:06:06.479 of exporting its way out of its problems, building up 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:09.400 huge trade surpluses that other countries resent, and that looks 0:06:09.440 --> 0:06:12.880 like that's going to continue in If a company does 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:16.960 have a good chance of succeeding in the new environment, 0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:19.840 it makes sense to keep it alive. If it's business 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:24.000 models fundamentally flawed because of the changes caused by COVID, 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:27.560 then maybe it's better let it go. That pieced him 0:06:27.640 --> 0:06:30.240 really laying out the top themes for the year and 0:06:30.320 --> 0:06:32.080 how we may see a recovery from a time like 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:34.240 no other. As we've talked about so much, Caroll, the 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:37.799 recovery inextricably linked to the vaccine rollout. It cannot happen 0:06:38.040 --> 0:06:40.640 soon enough. That was, of course, Bloomberg business Week Economics 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:43.839 editor Peter Coy and Bloomberg Business Week Editor Joel Weber 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:46.040 coming up the year ahead when it comes to politics 0:06:46.080 --> 0:06:49.560 and government, Well, will the divisions continue to dominate? We'll 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:52.279 check in with one Washington insider. He's also the author 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:55.240 of Patriots of Two Nations, Why Trump was Inevitable and 0:06:55.360 --> 0:06:58.360 what happens next. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. This 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:07.680 is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:12.360 and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stinovich from Bloomberg Radio. Safe 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:14.200 to say that one year ago this time we really 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:16.680 had no idea of what would come on the political front. 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:19.040 Fast forward to this year. We've got a new president, 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:22.640 a Democratic Congress by a slim margin, and an administration 0:07:22.720 --> 0:07:24.440 to him with a year ahead to do list that's 0:07:24.600 --> 0:07:27.800 long and wide in a Washington that's still wheeling from 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:29.640 the capital riot at the start of the year. And 0:07:29.680 --> 0:07:31.320 you know, Carol, this is really the reason that we 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:34.600 wanted to talk with Spencer Critchley. He's managing partner at 0:07:34.680 --> 0:07:37.480 the marketing agency Boots Road Group. He's also an award 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:40.600 winning journalist, a communications consultant who has worked for both 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:43.800 of Barack Obama's presidential campaigns as well. He's a modern 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:46.640 day renaissance man because he's also a digital media producer. 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:50.240 He's worked with David Bowie, Moby Santana, Britney Spears, a 0:07:50.320 --> 0:07:53.440 bunch of others. He's also author of Patriots of Two Nations. 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:56.640 Why Trump was Inevitable and what happens next? Top of 0:07:56.720 --> 0:08:00.000 mind for us right tim the inauguration and division in Washington. 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:02.880 We have to have hope. I think today it's been 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:05.800 so inspiring what's been going on, and I think that 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:11.320 President Biden has followed exactly the right course here. You know, 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:14.960 when he's talking about restoring the soul of America. I 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:19.600 know people have probably assumed that that was standard campaign rhetoric, 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:22.520 because politicians tend to talk in these you know, sweeping 0:08:22.680 --> 0:08:25.640 historic terms to try to motivate voters in this grand 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:29.080 mission of their campaign. But I am confident that Joe 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:31.520 Biden means that from his heart, and I think what 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:34.560 he's referring to is the set of core moral values 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:37.160 that are at the heart of democracy, and that make 0:08:37.240 --> 0:08:39.720 it possible. You know, we're a civic nation, the first 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:42.400 one in history to not have a state religion and 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:46.319 not have an official ethnic identity defining us. But instead 0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:49.520 we're really defined by the idea of America has embodied 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:53.160 in the Constitution. And those shared moral values are values 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:56.679 like freedom and equality and the rule of law and 0:08:56.880 --> 0:09:00.599 democracy itself. And that's what Biden has talking about. It 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:03.720 goes way beyond the partisan differences and the other differences 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:06.000 that have divided us so much and for so long, 0:09:06.679 --> 0:09:08.760 and really calls on all of us to renew our 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:13.240 support for democracy itself. So, how does if you were 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:17.000 advising President Biden, if you're advising him right now, how 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:20.600 does he bring a nation together that is so divided. 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:25.000 I think that that's where he needs to start, is 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:28.120 appealing to people's hearts, because as I you know, as 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:31.520 I say in the title of my book, the people 0:09:31.559 --> 0:09:35.480 who are divided consider themselves as patriots. Even if they 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:37.960 hate the people on the other side of the divide 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:40.720 and see the people on the other side as threats 0:09:40.760 --> 0:09:43.280 to the United States, they see themselves as patriots. And 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:47.680 if you have a situation where two groups divided so deeply, 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:52.440 both see themselves as patriots. The issue is they're seeing 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:55.319 different nations. They're patriotic to different visions of what the 0:09:55.400 --> 0:09:57.280 nation is. And I think what Biden needs to do 0:09:57.400 --> 0:10:01.200 and will do is show people, in fact, we're united 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:04.360 by one nation that's defined by these values that we 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:07.720 do all share. If we don't share these core values 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:12.079 and affect our civic religion of equality, freedom, rule of law, etcetera, 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:14.679 then we don't support democracy. So if you're going to 0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:17.400 be in the circle of democracy, you must share those values. 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:20.800 And I think you know most people believe in those 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:24.680 values and want to be appealed to on that level. 0:10:24.760 --> 0:10:26.559 And so if he does, I think that goes much 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:30.000 farther than any particular policy position. All right, Spencer, don't 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:31.599 hate me, but I'm gonna I think I said this 0:10:31.720 --> 0:10:33.199 last time you were on because it was a line 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:35.280 that in your in your book that just stayed with me, 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:39.079 and you said, Um, how you think you understand what 0:10:39.280 --> 0:10:41.200 has happened here? And that is that this has been 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:44.800 coming since the founding of the country. America's two nations 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:47.680 occupying the same land, but seeing everything very differently, even 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:50.920 including truth itself. And what's interesting is we do look 0:10:51.400 --> 0:10:53.360 at this division. I think one of the things Tim 0:10:53.400 --> 0:10:56.280 and I have thought was really important and our reporters 0:10:56.760 --> 0:10:59.400 Bloomberg News are are writing on it is talking to 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:03.160 those right ers understanding why they did what they did. 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:06.520 And I think we have forgotten Americans that we need 0:11:06.600 --> 0:11:10.360 to understand why they feel like they're not represented in 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:15.040 this government or that they needed to overtake this government. Yes, 0:11:15.840 --> 0:11:18.360 although there is a certain point at which everybody has 0:11:18.400 --> 0:11:22.080 a choice, and um, I think we make a mistake 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:24.440 if we see everything in terms of ideas. I've been 0:11:24.480 --> 0:11:26.640 working hard, including with this book, to try to help 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:29.280 people understand each other, especially people on my side of 0:11:29.320 --> 0:11:32.319 the divide, which is the democratic liberal side of the divide, 0:11:32.320 --> 0:11:35.520 to help them understand why good people would support President 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:38.880 Trump for example. Um, However, when you are offered the 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:41.839 choice to storm the capital, to smash the windows, to 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:45.800 attack police officers, to threaten the lives of elected officials, 0:11:46.360 --> 0:11:49.080 we don't need to understand that at that point, Um, 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:51.480 you just need to be stopped and you need to 0:11:51.559 --> 0:11:54.319 be held to account. And this also is part of 0:11:54.720 --> 0:11:57.400 really understanding and defending the moral values that is not 0:11:57.559 --> 0:12:01.360 a partisan position. If we believe intomocracy you must not 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:04.480 and cannot be allowed to do those sorts of things. 0:12:04.559 --> 0:12:07.280 So for the people, you know, think about it this way. 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:10.640 We think about understanding, you know, what democracy is about, 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:12.400 and all this sort of stuff, But think about the 0:12:12.440 --> 0:12:16.679 developmentally disabled, for the intellectually disabled, for example, there are 0:12:16.760 --> 0:12:20.840 no morally worse than anybody else. It doesn't require advanced 0:12:20.880 --> 0:12:24.120 intelligence or high education to understand that it's wrong to 0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:27.600 destroy things and to hurt people. And the people who 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:31.240 participated in that attack, that is what they did and 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:34.760 that is just wrong. Um. I think coming out of this, 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:37.319 because things have gotten so bad, we're actually going to 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:40.199 have to follow a truth and reconciliation process, as was 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:44.400 followed in post apartheid South Africa, post World War two Germany, 0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:47.280 post troubles in Northern Ireland. We first of all must 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:53.319 establish we must re establish truth, especially because autocrats always 0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:57.079 attack the truth. Uh an attack history. History is the 0:12:57.240 --> 0:13:00.559 enemy of tyrants and it's the friend of freedom. So 0:13:00.679 --> 0:13:03.319 we must establish truth and we must have accountability, and 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:06.319 then we can work towards reconciliation. The first thing we 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:09.079 have to do is re established this sense of shared values. 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:10.959 I think that if we think too much at the 0:13:11.040 --> 0:13:13.760 tactical level. We won't get there because we're kind of lost. 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:19.840 Our dispute really takes place over tactics and policy details 0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:22.440 and charges and counter charges, and and it ends up 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:27.319 deepening the division and increasing the loss of trust. And 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:30.480 when you're as divided as UM so many Americans are 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:32.679 right now, the first thing to do is re established 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:36.080 shared values, to re establish trust, because people really only 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:38.200 listen to people that they trust. And if you've lost 0:13:38.240 --> 0:13:41.200 trust in each other, it doesn't really matter what you say, 0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:43.280 how valid it is, it's just not going to be 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:45.679 heard or you know, given any any weight with the 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:48.199 lack of trust. And this is one reason why I 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:52.679 think Joe Biden was quite possibly the best choice the 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:55.480 Democrats could have come up with for this time in history, 0:13:56.080 --> 0:13:59.480 because it's such a strength of his UM. I wrote 0:13:59.720 --> 0:14:02.240 a or a piece about this at Spencer criticley dot 0:14:02.280 --> 0:14:05.400 com just called a good man because aside from his 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:07.280 other qualifications, and I think he's actually one of the 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:11.960 most highly qualified on paper presidents in our history. UM, 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:16.880 perhaps his most important quality is who's a thoroughly good person, 0:14:16.960 --> 0:14:19.520 As everybody who's been around him for any length of 0:14:19.560 --> 0:14:24.240 time knows and will tell you. And leadership is not 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:28.440 about what you can impose on people. Ultimately, it's about 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:31.960 what you can summon from them. And I think that 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:35.200 we're already seeing. I don't think I'm dreaming. I think 0:14:35.240 --> 0:14:37.880 we're already starting to feel how different it's going to 0:14:37.960 --> 0:14:40.680 be when we have a leader who is summoning the 0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:43.160 best from us. It's always great to have Spencer Critchley 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:45.320 join us. He is again the author of Patriots of 0:14:45.360 --> 0:14:48.080 Two Nations, Why Trump Was Inevitable and What Happens Next, 0:14:48.160 --> 0:14:50.440 also managing partner for Boots Road Group. I gotta say 0:14:50.480 --> 0:14:53.440 one of my favorite conversations this week, Tim still ahead Washington. 0:14:53.560 --> 0:14:56.040 We know the inauguration politics, as we said top of 0:14:56.120 --> 0:14:59.000 mine this week. So too were those troubling COVID headlines. 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:02.960 How one healthcare ceo is supporting frontline workers and healthcare systems. 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:10.800 This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:15.160 Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes. Tim Stinovich from Bloomberg Radio. 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:19.480 Your head will look a lot like unless we get Carol. Oh, 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:24.560 sorry was a terrible year. I'm really sorry, but it's 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:27.840 a reality. I mean, listen, we're getting out vaccines. We 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:29.960 know that, but if you take a look at the 0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:33.600 headlines and still the obstacles, it's pretty dark and dismal. Yeah, 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:37.120 that's true. US coronavirus deaths topped four hundred thousand this week. 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:39.880 It is a staggering number. Each one of those people 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:43.920 leaving behind a family, leaving behind friends. Follows on the 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:46.960 heels of global death Carol hitting two million just about 0:15:47.000 --> 0:15:49.160 a week ago, and on the front lines of it all, 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:53.320 Alyssa Rapp, whos CEO of the healthcare solutions company Surgical Solutions, 0:15:53.600 --> 0:15:57.600 I am absolutely seeing more vaccine availability and our frontline 0:15:57.640 --> 0:16:00.200 healthcare workers in places like Houston and New York City 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:03.040 are getting access to getting the vaccine, which is great. 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:06.360 And I've known from personal anecdotes that family members seventy 0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:09.400 and up we're also getting their first shot this weeknnext, 0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:12.720 which is across many states. However, there's still a lot 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:15.000 of bureaucracy and red tape, and what we've seen even 0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:17.440 at a couple of our hospital sites is even if 0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:20.360 you're a credential employee or contractor, even if you have 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:23.520 a vaccine appointment, now there's a third database that people 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:25.800 are expected to be tracked in when their vaccines are 0:16:25.880 --> 0:16:29.000 given and if any technical difficulties like we just had 0:16:29.080 --> 0:16:32.800 occur and a database doesn't map from the employee contractor 0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:36.280 database to the separate vaccine tracking database, even if you 0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:39.280 have an appointment in our bona fide employee or contractor, 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:41.240 you can't always get the shot. And so there's just 0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:43.640 a lot of bureaucracy and there's got to be a 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:47.880 streamlined way we continue to immunize or we will never 0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:50.440 achieve a hunter million in a hundred days. Oh, that's 0:16:50.480 --> 0:16:54.640 just disconcerting to hear their places, um, where your frontline 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:58.120 staff are that are better than others. You know, I 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:00.480 think that we've seen it be rolled out to accessfully 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:02.680 in all places, and we've seen bureaucracy in all places. 0:17:02.720 --> 0:17:05.320 We have three employees in nine states, so it's really 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:09.040 a facility by a facility or system by system question 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:11.200 to be fair. But I will say the places I 0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:14.680 am most optimistic about having a partner to our federal 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:18.520 government and our our our people on our American public. 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:23.880 If we can partner with CBS, Walmart, Costco, Walgreen, name 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:26.440 that tune and go to places where people are used 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:28.960 to getting food shots, where they're used to shopping on 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:32.159 a regular basis, leverage the notary like you read Business 0:17:32.200 --> 0:17:35.119 Week magazine MELSSA, because they have a story that's just 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:38.560 specifically about that that maybe you know, the success in 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:41.639 terms of getting that vaccine rollout is contented on relying 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:44.440 on the big pharmacies, but even your local pharmacy, like 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:47.359 they need to be the place to go. Absolutely. I 0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:49.680 I even read recently this week that the governor of 0:17:49.760 --> 0:17:51.879 Washington State is going to partner with Starbucks. I mean, 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:55.959 anything we can do to leverage existing infrastructure, because when 0:17:56.000 --> 0:17:59.320 we create new infrastructure, even in health care facilities, let 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:03.280 alone anywhere, if it's expensive, bureaucratic, encumbersome, leverage what we have, 0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:06.920 keep things moving as quickly as possible, and get it done. 0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:11.320 Herd immunity being obviously the goal here. Um, you know it, 0:18:11.600 --> 0:18:13.280 It really raises the question a list of why we 0:18:13.320 --> 0:18:17.119 didn't see earlier on public private partnerships when it comes 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:20.560 to a widespread vaccine rollout um to be discussed on 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:24.080 a different day. Isn't that important? Like, well, it's interesting 0:18:24.119 --> 0:18:25.720 that forgive me because I just want to jump in 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:29.080 because you know, you talk about the bureaucracy and the 0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:32.800 logistical problems, and I know what maybe Kansas needs versus 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:35.080 what New York needs is going to be different. But nonetheless, 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:37.400 do you think those are quick fixes? And I don't 0:18:37.400 --> 0:18:40.240 say quick and then it's easy, but do you think 0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:43.280 that this new administration, approaching it differently, can get this 0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:46.680 quickly under control so that we are seeing the bureaucracy 0:18:46.760 --> 0:18:49.480 taken out of the systems and the logistical snaff oos 0:18:49.640 --> 0:18:53.440 ALYSSA taken out as well. I'm very hopeful. I'm very 0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:56.720 very hopeful there is an opportunity to hit reset and 0:18:56.840 --> 0:18:59.760 start sprinting, and if this administration is able to do so, 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:02.040 we're going to be much better off. So listen, you 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:04.560 mentioned that you have hundreds of employees and in nine 0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:08.159 states I believe um are what's the portion of them 0:19:08.200 --> 0:19:10.679 that have been vaccinated thus far? Because these are frontline workers, 0:19:11.400 --> 0:19:13.720 it's an excellent question. We have about twenty three percent 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:16.320 that have been vaccinated to date, and there's a huge one, now, 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:21.960 you know. I was I was expecting that's a really 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:24.400 small number. And here I got an email this morning 0:19:24.440 --> 0:19:26.080 at one of our biggest facilities were one of our 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:29.840 frustrated team members on the COVID list serves said, I'm registered. 0:19:29.920 --> 0:19:33.639 What I articulated earlier, I'm registered, I'm credentialed, and they 0:19:33.680 --> 0:19:37.920 don't have me in the third vaccine database. And it's 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:41.760 very frustrating. Yes, not for lack of desire. It's it's 0:19:41.880 --> 0:19:44.120 got to cut through the red tape. Yeah, all right, Um, 0:19:44.760 --> 0:19:46.600 so if we can cut through the red I mean 0:19:46.680 --> 0:19:48.440 so okay, So how do you see this playing out? 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:50.240 I mean, I'm just tim and I constantly are like, 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:51.560 all right, so when do we get back to normal? 0:19:51.640 --> 0:19:55.760 Whenever we're talking to somebody who's at healthcare professional or 0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:57.520 head of a company like you are that are are 0:19:57.600 --> 0:20:02.520 seeing everything play out firsthand, Um, what's your expectations based 0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:05.199 on what we're seeing so far? What's your expectation if 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:09.040 things can dramatically change in a positive way. If things 0:20:09.080 --> 0:20:11.600 can dramatically change in a positive way, I see seventy 0:20:11.640 --> 0:20:14.200 five and up having their second shots by President's Day. 0:20:14.600 --> 0:20:17.560 I'm hopeful that teachers and other essential frontline workers such 0:20:17.560 --> 0:20:20.800 as grocery store workers, etcetera, will be having their first, 0:20:20.880 --> 0:20:22.840 if not second, vaccine by the end of Q one, 0:20:22.920 --> 0:20:24.560 by the end of March, and I'm really hopeful that 0:20:24.640 --> 0:20:27.399 Tier two and Tier three let alone Tier four, like 0:20:27.480 --> 0:20:29.800 healthy people in their thirties and forties can start getting 0:20:29.880 --> 0:20:33.240 vaccinated and complete that April May June, and we can 0:20:33.280 --> 0:20:36.399 get back to normal come July August. The scientists are 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:39.120 so brilliant in this country, and we have just done 0:20:39.119 --> 0:20:42.159 such an extraordinary job coming with a protein based solved 0:20:42.240 --> 0:20:45.439 in this particular vaccine that I am actually cautiously optimistic. 0:20:46.080 --> 0:20:47.520 That was one of our go to voices when it 0:20:47.600 --> 0:20:51.320 comes to COVID nineteen Surgical Solutions CEO, Allissa Rapp, you're 0:20:51.359 --> 0:20:54.760 listening to Bloomberg Business Week coming up next. It's it's 0:20:54.800 --> 0:20:57.679 been pretty challenging the story of how COVID is pushing 0:20:57.720 --> 0:21:00.479 a city block to the brain. This is an interesting 0:21:00.560 --> 0:21:02.880 story that was in Bloomberg Business Week magazine. We're gonna 0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:04.760 take you through a must read story. It's from our 0:21:04.840 --> 0:21:07.239 one Year, One Neighborhood series that's coming up next to him. 0:21:07.359 --> 0:21:14.760 This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol 0:21:14.840 --> 0:21:19.160 Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stinovy from Bloomberg Radio. 0:21:19.680 --> 0:21:21.240 Hard to say with the year ahead holds for the 0:21:21.280 --> 0:21:23.879 real estate industry and the many businesses that occupy the 0:21:23.920 --> 0:21:26.119