WEBVTT - Economic Carnage in the Wealthiest Zip Codes 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:03.720 This is Bloomberg Business Week. I'm Carol Masser and I'm 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:06.320 Jason Kelly. We're right here every day bringing you the 0:00:06.400 --> 0:00:11.160 latest news from the world's of business and finance, plus technology, politics, economics, 0:00:11.240 --> 0:00:14.280 all harnessing the power of Business Week reporters and editors. 0:00:14.440 --> 0:00:16.439 And of course Carol that's part of a team of 0:00:16.520 --> 0:00:20.439 twenty seven hundred journalists and analysts more than a hundred 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:23.240 and twenty countries and Jason. You can download Bloomberg Business 0:00:23.280 --> 0:00:26.239 Week on iTunes, SoundCloud, bl Bloomberg dot com. You can 0:00:26.280 --> 0:00:28.640 also listen to our radio show at two pm Eastern 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:31.560 on Bloomberg Radio every weekday, or watch us on YouTube 0:00:31.600 --> 0:00:36.080 by searching Bloomberg Global News. Well, we've been giving you 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:39.839 some updates about the virus. Clearly it is of concern 0:00:39.960 --> 0:00:43.920 to investors, it's of concern to the people who run 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:47.720 colleges and companies and all of us just as human beings. 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:51.160 So let's check in get the latest with Dr Shelley Hearn, 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:54.640 director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health Advocacy, 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:57.880 part of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 0:00:57.960 --> 0:01:00.640 Of course, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg schoo Public Health that's 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:03.800 supported by Mike Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and founder 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:06.880 of Bloomberg LP, the owner of this radio station. She 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:11.520 turns on the phone from Charleston, South Carolina. I love 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:15.240 Charles Charleston, South Carolina. So I'm going to start there. 0:01:15.600 --> 0:01:18.720 Dr Herne, tell us what life is like down there, 0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:22.080 because anytime we're talking to somebody outside of our little bubble, 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:25.040 as it were, we want to know what's going on. Well, 0:01:25.400 --> 0:01:27.640 you know, we all have our bubbles all around the world, 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:31.199 but Charleston, you know, you can always count on good 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:34.720 food and lovely people. So it's it's it's not a 0:01:34.720 --> 0:01:37.600 bad bubble. It's not a bad bubble. But let's talk 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:40.080 about it. I have some family down in South Carolina, 0:01:40.160 --> 0:01:43.600 just outside Charleston, and I know the numbers have been 0:01:43.720 --> 0:01:47.160 tough in terms of the virus. Well, the number of 0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:51.520 South Carolina is still struggling. Um is you are tracking 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:55.760 around the country, we are seeing different surges, different uh 0:01:56.240 --> 0:01:59.680 improvements in places, and it really kind of boils down 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:04.560 to how seriously people are taking public health measures. And unfortunately, 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:08.600 just like variations in food from the south to the north, 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:12.440 we're also seeing variations in the acceptance of mask wearing, 0:02:13.360 --> 0:02:16.720 the care with social distancing. And so that's what's going 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:20.079 to keep this virus alive and well around the country 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:24.440 is if we get complacent, uh and put our guard down, 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:28.720 it will return. Well, you know, can I just to follow? 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:31.160 I mean you are so involved in time in terms 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:36.360 of you know, understanding health and cities and communities. You know, 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:38.440 Jason and I k that there's you know, one thing, 0:02:38.520 --> 0:02:40.200 you know, wear a mask. That's one thing we still 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:43.079 repeat over and over. But there's also that idea of 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:46.359 you know, taking care of your community. I mean, this 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:48.760 is largely what this virus is about. That's why you 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:52.160 wear a mask, it is. I mean, you know, we're 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:56.120 hoping for vaccines, we're looking for other kinds of therapeutics, 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:59.880 but the real important element is even if those come 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:02.840 on board, the absolute best thing we can do for 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:06.240 our families and for our neighbors and our entire kind 0:03:06.280 --> 0:03:10.760 of economics thrive ability is to really practice these basics 0:03:10.880 --> 0:03:13.679 in public health. It may not be sexy, but that's 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:16.760 actually what's going to make the biggest, biggest difference. And 0:03:17.120 --> 0:03:20.079 if we all did this together, uh, and did it 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:24.320 you know universally, we could probably really dampen this down, 0:03:25.000 --> 0:03:28.600 get ready for a tough winter, and do much better. 0:03:29.320 --> 0:03:32.320 I worried so much about our economy that if we 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:36.960 if we focus in on just stemming and suppressing this 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:41.080 virus by community measures, it's what's really going to help 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:44.960 open up our our ability for strong, healthy commerce down 0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:48.800 the road. So Dr Hearn talked to us about the 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:52.240 public health system, because you know, Carol and I have 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:55.080 talked on this program a lot about this notion that 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:59.520 the virus has served to accelerate so many things, for 0:03:59.640 --> 0:04:03.960 good and bad. It is forced us to deal with 0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:06.880 some things that maybe we didn't want to deal with 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:09.320 and and now we have to. And especially when you 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:13.000 pair it with what we've seen in terms of a 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:16.760 real reckoning around systemic racism and some of the deep, 0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:20.040 deep inequality, some of the great chasms that we've seen, 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:22.920 And having spent a lot of time in South Carolina, 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:24.880 having grown up in the South, I know that a 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:28.400 lot of that is so apparent there um in your 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:32.239 state and even uh in Charleston. What do we need 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:34.839 to do at this moment where we do have something 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:38.200 of an opportunity to start to close that gap when 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:40.919 it comes to public health. Well, it's a it's a 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:43.880 brilliant question. Is the the exact one that we need 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:47.599 to focus on. So just like uh, you know, a 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:52.359 healthy company needs good roads, it needs good education system 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:56.440 so that the workforce is ready and prepared for the job, 0:04:56.960 --> 0:04:59.720 we actually need to have that same kind of capacity 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:03.520 in our public health system. These are and and the 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:06.760 good thing of the pandemic is bringing alive. You need 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:10.200 to have epidemiologists, you need to have labs. This is 0:05:10.240 --> 0:05:14.160 every day. It's not just when when a virus is spreading. 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:17.760 But we use those tools all the time to keep 0:05:17.839 --> 0:05:22.279 us healthy and well and actually striving in terms of 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:26.440 wellness and long longevity and life. And that comes down 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:32.119 to a public health system that can do that disease tracking, laboratories, 0:05:32.240 --> 0:05:37.240 the strong staff. And we've actually been cutting those very 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:40.960 core foundations in the last ten years. This isn't something new. 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:44.560 It's been an equal opportunity to neglect over the last 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:48.640 few years. And Jason, just to your point, we never 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:52.160 modernized this back you know, from really fifty years ago. 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:54.839 And if we're going to throw a bunch of money, 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:58.719 which we absolutely need to do into fixing the public health, 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:01.640 don't just fix it for COVID, fix it for what 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:05.240 is actually killing us and creating one of the least 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:08.960 healthy nations in the country. Focus on chronic diseases. Also, 0:06:09.400 --> 0:06:14.839 it's the same infrastructure, those epidemiologists, the disease tracking, the laboratories. 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:19.240 You design it for the full picture, including your strengthen 0:06:19.279 --> 0:06:22.680 those agencies like c DC so that they have the 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:25.920 authority to deal with what are some of those underlying causes, 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:29.520 which in a lot of cases is economic. Uh, it 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:33.800 is the financial stresses that um, some of the undergirding 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:36.719 of why people are in eating healthy or don't have 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:40.680 safe roads to travel on. That's causing us to be 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:45.880 the least healthy wealthy nation. So Dr hearn Um, we 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:51.000 were talking about the importance of really reworking, updating, improving, 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:54.799 bringing to the twenty one century. You know, our infrastructure, 0:06:54.800 --> 0:07:01.080 our healthcare infrastructure. Having said that, did our infrastructure fail us? 0:07:01.080 --> 0:07:04.880 Not just the physical infrastructure, but the political infrastructure in 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:10.040 the nation's capital. So what I will say is that 0:07:10.320 --> 0:07:15.720 we have failed public health for decades now. It's actually 0:07:15.800 --> 0:07:20.680 been a relatively nonpartisan issue of equal opportunity to neglect. 0:07:21.080 --> 0:07:26.640 We put a lot of money into investigating uh, therapeutics 0:07:26.680 --> 0:07:29.920 for diseases, but we don't put the money into understanding 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:33.000 what causes those diseases in the first place, and how 0:07:33.040 --> 0:07:38.120 we confessed create a healthier nation if public health doing 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:41.720 its job right and it is positioned right, we're keeping 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:44.520 people out of the sick care system. We're keeping out 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:47.840 of hospitals, out of doctors offices, out of you know, 0:07:47.960 --> 0:07:52.040 spiraling pharmaceutical costs. It's it's one of the best bangs 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:57.560 for the book, But we haven't really done the proper investments, uh, 0:07:57.760 --> 0:08:00.520 with that kind of mindset the way that other countries have. 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:05.440 And that's that's what we've neglected. So Dr Hearn, as 0:08:05.480 --> 0:08:08.480 we look ahead and we seek to seize this moment. 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:11.240 Where as you rightly pointed out earlier in the conversation, 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:13.000 we're going to spend a lot of money. We're we're 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:16.960 going to direct a lot of resources towards public health. 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:23.280 What's the first place, generally speaking, that a hospital administrator 0:08:23.920 --> 0:08:28.440 should be looking towards. You talked about those chronic diseases 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:31.920 and treatment thereof, But how do we spend the money 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:35.600 correctly to start to tackle this. What's what's the low 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:39.160 hanging fruit here? If there is any you bet. So 0:08:39.679 --> 0:08:42.600 here's what we need to do. We we have health 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:47.040 departments which are actually our frontline defense, and we rarely 0:08:47.080 --> 0:08:50.000 talk about them because if they're doing their job, you 0:08:50.000 --> 0:08:54.520 don't see them. And those health departments need to be 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:58.720 invested in, not just for COVID response, because we've had 0:08:58.760 --> 0:09:01.680 these things before. We've had sorrows, we've vanned an tracks, 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:04.320 we trailed money at it, We do a little tiny 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:09.080 fix and then mother nature or terrorism or someone throws 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:12.600 us a curveball and we just fixed that little that 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:15.360 little you know, we kind of strapped on a band 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:19.920 aid instead of How about a disease surveillance system that 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:25.160 tracks the health of respiratory diseases, so whether it's COVID 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:28.720 or asthma, which is one of the number one causes 0:09:29.320 --> 0:09:34.560 of hospitalization law school days, absentee is um but we 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:38.360 actually don't even track that nationally. We don't have the 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:41.800 proper basics. What's the health of the community. Where are 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:44.920 big problems? When we see a spike, go in and 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:49.640 investigate catch it early, whether it's chronic or a short 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:52.959 term injectures outbreak. We could do such a better job 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:56.880 if we would just do that. Core investment in the 0:09:56.960 --> 0:10:00.320 public health system, not the health care system. What's your 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:03.959 hope that that happens? I do? And actually, here here's 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:08.040 the silver line. And the business community has really gotten 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:11.920 it that they have been hurt, they've suffered, they've each 0:10:12.080 --> 0:10:14.480 had to We've got some of the companies that are 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:18.280 creating their own contact tracing forces. That's a government job, 0:10:18.360 --> 0:10:21.920 that's a government responsibility. But we didn't have enough uh 0:10:22.120 --> 0:10:25.559 staff in place. We don't have the proper numbers. We've 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:29.920 been cutting year after year after year. And when I 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:33.160 think that, you'll see some of the top leaders stepping 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:37.120 up and saying, sure, we can do contact tracing, but 0:10:37.160 --> 0:10:40.439 it's not our core competency. It's just like good roads, 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:43.480 just like good school systems. We've gotta have a good 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:47.160 public health system that keeps things operating. That's not our job, 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:50.320 but we need to be out there advocating that that 0:10:50.360 --> 0:10:53.319 we build those systems right in the first place so 0:10:53.360 --> 0:10:57.080 that we're all healthier and wealthier. And well, all right, 0:10:57.160 --> 0:10:59.320 we're gonna leave it there. Really enjoyed talking to you. 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:01.720 Come back in it with us, please. Dr Shelley Hearn, 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:05.520 Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health, Advocacy 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:08.160 and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:11.840 joined us on the phone from Charleston, South Carolina, a 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:15.800 terrific city. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:19.920 and Jason Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. This is one of 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:24.240 these stories that people I barely know are emailing and 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:28.320 texting me about because it is just that good and 0:11:28.520 --> 0:11:32.800 really speaks to something that may have been missed or 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:38.400 uncovered or undercovered in this whole sort of economic carnage. 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:41.640 And that's the term that this writer uses in his 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:44.400 story talking about Ben Steve Orman, one of our favorites, 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:47.120 a go to guy when it comes to really understanding 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:50.560 the personal aspect of economics. He joins us on the phone. 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:53.520 Were also joined, of course, by Bloomberg Business Week editor 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:56.839 Joel Weber. Joel set this up for us. I love 0:11:56.920 --> 0:12:00.520 this story. So we started talking about this one a 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:03.760 couple of months ago because we just felt that the 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:06.640 character that been right about who's at Harvard his name 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:09.800 is Raj Chetty, was one um of all the people 0:12:10.040 --> 0:12:11.880 that we were wondering what he was going to be 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:15.160 doing during the pandemic. Um he was. He was one 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:17.720 name that we just really wanted to know about, and 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:20.560 so we talked to Ben because Ben has done some 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:24.840 amazing coverage sort of in this space before, and when 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:27.120 we put them together, some magic happened and that ended 0:12:27.200 --> 0:12:30.440 up being this story that's in our equality issue and 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:32.679 and I'll let Ben speak to it more more closely, 0:12:32.720 --> 0:12:36.400 but basically, uh, Mr Chetty and his team of about 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:39.640 forty people at Harvard have tried to get a god's 0:12:39.679 --> 0:12:43.800 eye view of of data during the pandemic and the 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:47.599 tool that they have assembled is basically I think unparalleled 0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:53.800 and presenting uh, just how real the carnage is. And 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:56.480 on that note, I'll turn it over to Ben been 0:12:56.880 --> 0:13:00.720 how bad is it based on the data that Raj 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:04.400 and company are resembling. Yes, so they pulled together all 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:07.280 this private data from all these companies, which has never 0:13:07.360 --> 0:13:11.040 been done on this scale before. And um, you can 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:13.200 really see down to the neighborhood level, and you can 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:17.560 see these neighborhoods, especially wealthier neighborhoods where wealthier people live. 0:13:17.679 --> 0:13:20.600 That is, um, you can see what's happening to small businesses. 0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:23.000 What's happened to small businesses in March and April is 0:13:23.040 --> 0:13:26.200 like they're down seventy in terms of sales. Some some 0:13:26.240 --> 0:13:30.680 neighborhoods in Midtown Manhattan, you've got got um the sales 0:13:30.720 --> 0:13:34.719 are down, and the tracker is able to then kind 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:37.080 of track that, Okay, the dollars aren't coming into the 0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:39.720 small businesses. So that's then what's happening to the workers. 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:42.480 And you see the employment rate for low income people. 0:13:42.920 --> 0:13:45.199 Lower income people really fall. So these are the people 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:48.520 that do your nails and and uh, you know, pour 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:52.560 you beers and serve you food at restaurants. Um. All 0:13:52.640 --> 0:13:55.880 these people have been been at at you know, unemployed. 0:13:56.440 --> 0:13:59.480 But you can also see, and this tracker that moment 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:03.280 when those stimulus checks arrives. It's a day by day, 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:06.280 week by week, state by state, neighborhood by neighborhood trackers. 0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:08.720 So you can really see that like the precise moment 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:12.920 when those UM checks arrive, and you can see spending 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:16.360 by lower income people really really increase. But the thing 0:14:16.440 --> 0:14:18.520 is a lot of them we're spending money online, not 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:22.280 in person and um and and a lot of wealthy 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:25.880 people are wealthier people just the top or so are 0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:28.640 staying home and they're not they're not spending still, you know, 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:32.040 six months into this thing. I gotta say, Ben, one 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:33.720 of the things that we talked about on our morning 0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:35.360 planning call today when we knew we were going to 0:14:35.440 --> 0:14:37.280 do this story. And I should point out it's been 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:40.000 among the most read on the Bloomberg from the get 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:43.600 go on this Thursday. But our producer Paul Brennan pointed out, 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:46.800 there's a line in your story the American dream is dead, um, 0:14:46.800 --> 0:14:49.880 and talking about Cheddy's work as he proved with exhaustive 0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:52.720 government data showing today's workers can no longer expect to 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:55.560 earn more than their parents did. I remember my parents. 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:58.480 I'm one of seven kids, you know, nine people, and 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:00.840 it's amazing what my parents did it. They wanted even 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:03.760 more for us, you know, and I think we've done that, 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:07.120 but it's it's kind of depressing to think that that's 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:09.000 not going to be the case potentially for a lot 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:11.800 of generations, uh, in our country right now and a 0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:14.440 lot of people in our country totally. And you know, 0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:18.320 the reality is is really is really awful. But the 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:20.760 way that he's been able to show these things is 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:25.040 really interesting to me. Um. This is this is a 0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:28.480 big data he's using. He's basically using big data and 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:31.920 that's really revolutionized economics in the last ten years or 0:15:31.920 --> 0:15:34.640 so because he doesn't have to build a theory or 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:37.840 a model for for what's happening. He can actually dive 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:41.000 into this these huge data sets of tax data, census 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:44.600 data and see individual people and see what's happening to 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:48.120 them over their lives um as they grow up and 0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:51.720 have careers and retire. And he's been able to really 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:54.960 he's really proving that that that what's happened over the 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:57.680 last day four to years to the American dream. He's 0:15:57.680 --> 0:16:02.239 also shown the barriers that really this um for Black Americans, 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:05.760 even privileged Black Americans in terms of being able to 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:10.080 match their parents incomes and so um. You can see racism, 0:16:10.080 --> 0:16:12.760 you can see education and how great educations can really 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:15.240 help people. A great teacher can really have a huge 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:18.800 impact on someone's career. So that's that was his background 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:21.920 before he went over and dropped everything and started studying 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:24.600 the pandemic. But it's it's one using these giant data 0:16:24.640 --> 0:16:28.080 sussorily prove the reality out there and really pay attention 0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:33.000 to the places where, um, we're falling short as a country. 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:35.520 And one of the ways that he's able to to 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:38.080 build this tool is obviously the I mean, it's all 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:40.080 about the inputs, right, and the data that he's able 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:43.360 to get, And that's also what you mentioned this earlier band. 0:16:43.360 --> 0:16:47.680 That's what makes this tracker so unbelievably effective is that 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:49.800 he's got all these sources of data that he can 0:16:49.840 --> 0:16:53.040 basically aggregate that have never been sort of assembled in 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:56.200 this way before. How did he go about getting that 0:16:56.400 --> 0:16:59.000 and why was anybody willing to give it to him? 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:03.080 It's a great question because is this idea of he's 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:06.200 basically been using private data, right, he's been using UM 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:10.520 MasterCard is is giving him data UM into it. A 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:12.960 bunch of other companies, some of them you maybe haven't 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:15.040 heard of, but there are a lot of different companies 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:19.000 that have have really interesting proprietary private data. But the 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:22.400 challenge is a getting them to hand that over. And 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:25.359 you know, they're handing over aggregated, anonymized data, so there's 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:29.000 not much of a danger of privacy breach. But UM. 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:30.919 One of the reasons he's able to do this is 0:17:30.960 --> 0:17:33.280 because he has this background using all this I R. 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:36.879 S and tax all this tax and other data government 0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:39.879 data that's super secret, so he has some credibility from that, 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:43.800 but there's also been this moment in the economy where 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:46.959 these private businesses they also want to see us UM, 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:49.240 you know, recover. They also want to see UM the 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:52.200 economy get back on track. So they've been way more 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:56.560 willing and open to his approaches. And he's still looking 0:17:56.560 --> 0:17:59.920 for more data. He's still reaching out to folks trying 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:02.840 to find more data because he sees this as being 0:18:02.880 --> 0:18:06.200 sort of the next frontier for economic analysis. And and 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:09.760 this could really be an awesome tool, not just for 0:18:09.760 --> 0:18:12.480 for the studying the national economy, but think about a 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:15.320 local problem in your neighborhood, or like think about a 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:18.400 natural disaster hits a particular state. You could go down 0:18:18.400 --> 0:18:21.200 and drill in and see what where, where's the places 0:18:21.280 --> 0:18:24.160 that where are the places that really need help. It's 0:18:24.280 --> 0:18:28.639 it's really cool. Now, it's a terrific for any moment, 0:18:28.720 --> 0:18:32.640 any given moment into Taylor. Yeah. Absolutely, it's a terrific 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:34.639 piece of reporting. Thank you so much for bringing it 0:18:34.680 --> 0:18:37.480 to as Ben Stephen, personal finance editor for Bloomberg, he's 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:40.399 back in our Bloomberg Interactive broker's studio. Sorry we're not 0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:43.280 there to greet him in person. Also joined by Joel Webber, 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:45.919 the editor of Bloomberg Business Week. One of the quotes 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:47.679 that really jumped out at me Darren Walker from the 0:18:47.720 --> 0:18:52.120 Ford Foundation, talking about Chetty. He understands that growing inequality 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:55.520 asphyxiates hope and makes it impossible for people to dream 0:18:55.560 --> 0:18:58.040 and believe that their children will have better lives. This 0:18:58.359 --> 0:19:02.040 is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Jason Kelly 0:19:02.240 --> 0:19:05.639 on Bloomberg Radio. Well, so much going on in the 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:09.480 world of politics, so so much going on. So who 0:19:09.600 --> 0:19:12.840 do we need to turn to? Carol? One guy, Rick Davis, 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:16.440 partner at Stone Court Capital, former Republican strategists and also 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:19.919 a Bloomberg contributor, So I could have him in the family, 0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:22.680 he joins us on the phone from Virginia. All Right, Rick, 0:19:22.800 --> 0:19:26.679 forty days out, I can't imagine that anybody would have 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:28.560 predicted this is where we were going to be, But 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:30.880 I think you probably could have said that every day 0:19:31.040 --> 0:19:34.240 for the last few years. What do you make of 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:38.119 this moment? And let's start with this notion of a 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:42.760 peaceful transfer of power. I can't believe we're talking about this. Yeah, 0:19:42.800 --> 0:19:45.960 that's the least likely concerned we have for this election. 0:19:46.720 --> 0:19:50.639 We've had success for two hundred and more years of 0:19:50.840 --> 0:19:54.280 transfer of power, and we won't have that problem this time. 0:19:54.320 --> 0:19:56.960 I think one of the suggestions that we was sent 0:19:57.000 --> 0:19:59.800 by Republican law mayor makers on the Hill today was 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:02.720 we're not going to let there be anything other than 0:20:02.840 --> 0:20:07.120 a peaceful transition of power. So if, like with Nixon, uh, 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:09.520 Senate leaders from your own party have to go to 0:20:09.520 --> 0:20:12.040 the White House and say it's time to go. But um, 0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:14.920 the message I got today was they're prepared to do that. 0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:18.640 So you feel better about what it based on what 0:20:18.720 --> 0:20:21.199 you heard that the response was strong enough for the 0:20:21.240 --> 0:20:25.720 Republicans to sort of quiet your mind at least. Sure, Um, 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:30.400 it was swift. Uh. They they got out there, leadership 0:20:30.480 --> 0:20:34.280 McConnell and others within the new cycle that Trump started 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:36.800 this debate. Of course it's not the first time we've 0:20:36.800 --> 0:20:38.800 ever heard this from Donald Trump, but certainly it was 0:20:38.880 --> 0:20:42.160 a little more emphatic this time about not counting ballots. 0:20:42.280 --> 0:20:46.200 So I think that the leadership in the Senate stood 0:20:46.240 --> 0:20:48.240 up today and said, you know this, this will be 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:50.920 an orderly transition. We will not go backwards on our 0:20:50.920 --> 0:20:55.400 democracy and uh. And I would suspect that, um, that 0:20:55.400 --> 0:20:58.960 that if there is a win for Biden in the 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:03.760 general election. Um, the Senate uniformly will stand up and say, 0:21:03.960 --> 0:21:07.639 you know, let's let's enter into a transition. Well, sure, 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:12.280 because they've not got potentially control of the Supreme Court. Well, 0:21:12.320 --> 0:21:14.840 I think that the Supreme Court decision may be decided 0:21:14.880 --> 0:21:17.960 long before the election. Uh, it may be a de 0:21:18.040 --> 0:21:23.239 facto confirmation process. Right, They're gonna speed it up as 0:21:23.280 --> 0:21:26.520 fast as they can in the committee. Uh, And it 0:21:26.560 --> 0:21:28.640 wouldn't surprise me that they try to have the vote 0:21:28.640 --> 0:21:31.639 even before the election. Now, almost all of the major 0:21:31.760 --> 0:21:34.399 legislation that the Senate has is not going to be 0:21:34.440 --> 0:21:37.680 active upon until the lame Duck, so certainly this could 0:21:37.680 --> 0:21:41.080 happen too. But they do run the risk in Arizona 0:21:41.080 --> 0:21:44.840 and Georgia, where those two seats are, elections for the 0:21:44.880 --> 0:21:48.679 Senate are are being done to fulfill a vacancy and 0:21:48.760 --> 0:21:51.040 thus literally could turn over before the end of the 0:21:51.080 --> 0:21:53.240 month in November. So I don't think they want to 0:21:53.280 --> 0:21:55.480 run the risk at either one of those flips. But 0:21:55.600 --> 0:21:59.439 as a Republican strategist, ric, I mean, that's the power, 0:21:59.640 --> 0:22:05.520 right that the Republicans Conservatives will largely have potentially control 0:22:05.600 --> 0:22:10.600 of the Supreme Court by their appointees for decades to come. 0:22:10.720 --> 0:22:14.240 I mean that's the power, right, Well, arguably they do 0:22:14.280 --> 0:22:19.679 now is always the intent of the Trump administration. But 0:22:19.800 --> 0:22:23.560 really the quiet work that McConnell's been doing for a 0:22:23.600 --> 0:22:26.119 long time. I mean, you know, he will tell people 0:22:26.240 --> 0:22:31.720 that his legacy will be a conservative federal bench from 0:22:31.760 --> 0:22:35.320 the Supreme Court on down. And you've seen the incredible 0:22:35.320 --> 0:22:39.200 pace with which they've filled vacancies on the federal bench. 0:22:39.320 --> 0:22:42.040 So really this is going to be the story for 0:22:42.080 --> 0:22:46.360 the next twenty five years. So setting aside the procedural 0:22:47.240 --> 0:22:50.960 let's talk about the political side for the Democrats, Rick, 0:22:51.119 --> 0:22:59.359 because procedurally they got much, but politically, what's the playbook here? Well, 0:22:59.400 --> 0:23:02.880 I think for the Democrats it's a little dangerous, right, 0:23:03.000 --> 0:23:06.199 I mean, arguably there's a case to be made that 0:23:06.240 --> 0:23:08.640 there was an overreach on Kavanaugh, you know, the last 0:23:08.640 --> 0:23:12.720 Supreme Court nominee to be uh put on the court. Um, 0:23:12.760 --> 0:23:15.919 if you have a majority in the Senate, as Republicans do, 0:23:16.119 --> 0:23:18.320 and it's pretty clear with the vote count now that 0:23:18.320 --> 0:23:22.600