Speaker 1: Hi. This is Malayan Vervier and this is Kim Azarelli.
Speaker 1: We are co authors of the book Fast Forward, How
Speaker 1: Women Can Achieve Power and Purpose. And you're listening to
Speaker 1: Seneca Women Conversations on Power and Purpose, brought to you
Speaker 1: by the Seneca Women Podcast Network and I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Welcome to this special edition. During these difficult times, we
Speaker 1: will bring you conversations with experts who can help us
Speaker 1: gain perspective on the impact of coronavirus, as well as
Speaker 1: share tips, resources and some much needed inspiration. Today I'm
Speaker 1: joined by Commissioner Sharon Bowen. Our current situation is not
Speaker 1: only a health crisis, but a financial crisis, and Sharon
Speaker 1: knows the implications of this well. She serves on the
Speaker 1: board of the New York Stock ex Change and sat
Speaker 1: on two major US government financial commissions dedicating to protecting
Speaker 1: consumers and investors in the aftermath of two thousand eight
Speaker 1: as well as in the aftermath of nine eleven, including
Speaker 1: serving as a Commissioner of the CFTC. Sharon, thanks for
Speaker 1: talking with us today. Thanks so much for having me. Kim.
Speaker 1: So you've been through nine eleven in New York City, UH,
Speaker 1: and the Great Recession of two thousand eight, What did
Speaker 1: we learn through those difficult events and can you give
Speaker 1: us a perspective on what's happening to the markets right now. Yes,
Speaker 1: each of those spirits presented an extraordinary period of uncertainty
Speaker 1: in our country and that's definitely the case today as well,
Speaker 1: but the causes of really different. The second thing I
Speaker 1: would say that they have in common is that we
Speaker 1: needed practice uh government intervention. We needed action by both
Speaker 1: the public and private sectors to respond to solutions. And
Speaker 1: the third thing I would say, in terms of what
Speaker 1: they will have in common, is said that the future
Speaker 1: will look really different, will be stronger in many areas,
Speaker 1: but at the same time it will highlight many weaknesses.
Speaker 1: So the two thousand eight financial prices, you know, we
Speaker 1: had okay markets where we didn't know where many of
Speaker 1: the risks were. Um, so we had great intervention of
Speaker 1: our government with the enactment of dog Frank Um And
Speaker 1: as you know that, as a Commissioner of the cftc UM,
Speaker 1: I had the privilege of implementing many of those rules
Speaker 1: and because of that, our financial markets are much more resilient.
Speaker 1: None eleven Again with an outside threat that was not
Speaker 1: a financial market crisis. UM. But likewise, we had government
Speaker 1: intervention with travel restrictions UM, and we had the involvement
Speaker 1: with the individual communities. Number of my need of the
Speaker 1: you know, the slogan if you see something, say something,
Speaker 1: which was a really great way to empower individuals to
Speaker 1: help us address UM those threats and as you mentioned
Speaker 1: at the very beginning, COVID nineteen project really invisible threat
Speaker 1: for us. It's a public health crisis, but it's definitely
Speaker 1: going to have a significant effect on our economy, which
Speaker 1: is why you're seeing the volatility in the market at
Speaker 1: right now. I think our federal government, particularly with respect
Speaker 1: to monitor policy, it's doing a really great job of
Speaker 1: pumping liquidity in the market, and I really applied UM
Speaker 1: those you know, those actions. UM. Likewise, I do a
Speaker 1: p the state government, who are really stepping up to
Speaker 1: the plate and for market pictures for cheaping our markets
Speaker 1: open and transparent, because it's really important for every investor
Speaker 1: to have access to fund So have we settled that.
Speaker 1: I think what we've learned from this is that we
Speaker 1: need a partnership with the public sector, with government in
Speaker 1: our local community. At the same time, I think that's
Speaker 1: what's gonna help us UM overcome this kne challenge. Now,
Speaker 1: in your role as the first African American Commissioner of
Speaker 1: the CFTC and also in your role at spec UH,
Speaker 1: you had had an important role to play in making
Speaker 1: sure some of the most vulnerable UH we're being UM
Speaker 1: thought about in this recovery period and also some of
Speaker 1: the regulations that you implemented UM in this moment, we
Speaker 1: know that women are particularly vulnerable. How are women going
Speaker 1: to be affected by this downturn? The chemis you know,
Speaker 1: women make up thirty nine percent of the twenty eight
Speaker 1: million small businesses in the US and contribute about one
Speaker 1: point six twillion dollars in national revenue and employed nearly
Speaker 1: nine million people. So women are will drivers of our economy.
Speaker 1: We also, as women control over help help half of
Speaker 1: the wealth in the US, and we're projected control two
Speaker 1: thirds of it by twenty twins. So women clearly need
Speaker 1: to be involved and have a seat at the table.
Speaker 1: I'm mindful of the fact that the high unemployment. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's going to be reflected in some of the jobs
Speaker 1: what waitresses, UM, educators, hotel workers, UM service providers who
Speaker 1: are women and who are already under employed and paid
Speaker 1: less than months of the dollar. So I think it's
Speaker 1: even more urgent that small businesses UM, and particularly women
Speaker 1: owned businesses have access to capital as quickly as possible
Speaker 1: so we can continue to be drivers of our economy.
Speaker 1: I mean a lot of government actions are being taken
Speaker 1: right now. UM, for example, the FED pledging to buy
Speaker 1: an unlimited amount of bonds. How do these actions help individuals?
Speaker 1: I mean, it's going to help to move out some
Speaker 1: of the short term pain, but I think we're going
Speaker 1: to need a longer term solution. UM. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think some of the actions taken, for example, you can't
Speaker 1: be foreclosed, your mortgages landwards can't affect you. UM. Those
Speaker 1: are nice money days fixes, but we have to figure
Speaker 1: out a way to get income in the hands of individuals. UM.
Speaker 1: We do reach the projected unemployment UH prediction, that's going
Speaker 1: to have really dark consequences for our economy. UM. So
Speaker 1: I think we're gonna need to to think longer term
Speaker 1: and terms in terms of how we can get our
Speaker 1: economy back in order. But as you know, the uncertainty
Speaker 1: right now also it's driven by the fact that this
Speaker 1: is a health crisis, and so the sooner we can
Speaker 1: give some predictability and certainty and leadership in terms of
Speaker 1: what tomorrow will look like. I think then we can
Speaker 1: have a path to the new next normal. We'll be
Speaker 1: back after this break. It's very clear that there is
Speaker 1: a lot of um and and well founded stress and
Speaker 1: anxiety and fear UM in terms of individual's health, individuals,
Speaker 1: families health. And there's also a lot of fear about
Speaker 1: the financial markets, about job security. I mean, given all
Speaker 1: your experience and everything you've seen, what is the best attitude,
Speaker 1: UM that an individual can take and and sort of
Speaker 1: what what techniques do you recommend? Well, I would say
Speaker 1: don't panic um the that you were going to see
Speaker 1: increase volatility UM. But there are financial markets are doing
Speaker 1: what they are really you know, set up to do.
Speaker 1: And frankly, with technology that we have today, we're able
Speaker 1: to have our markets function electronically. That's something we didn't
Speaker 1: really have back in two thousand eight. Um. We also
Speaker 1: know that we have the ability for people who work
Speaker 1: from home well, which really I think it's going to
Speaker 1: reshape our economy going forward. And obviously with that we
Speaker 1: we have a much smaller carbon footprint and and a
Speaker 1: solution to our global pollutions UM issue. But I would
Speaker 1: just encourage people to continue to support each other, to
Speaker 1: follow the directions and instructions from our doctors and from
Speaker 1: our world leaders and from our local government officials. UM.
Speaker 1: The market will take care of itself, but it's most
Speaker 1: important that we first and foremost take care of ourselves
Speaker 1: for our local business. I've heard great stories, for example,
Speaker 1: of people ordering pizza take out to be delivered for
Speaker 1: people who need the food. That keeps that pizza places
Speaker 1: in business, and it solves the problem of feeding people
Speaker 1: who otherwise don't have the access to get two food.
Speaker 1: That's the kind of you know, resiliency that communities UM
Speaker 1: show in times of stress, and so I just encouraged
Speaker 1: people to continue to do that, to continue to stake
Speaker 1: connected with your friends, your families, your neighbors and communities,
Speaker 1: and that's how we can really continue to have trust
Speaker 1: and faith in our system and to grow our economy
Speaker 1: in the future. So obviously, UM, this is a very
Speaker 1: dark time for many and it's a very difficult period
Speaker 1: for really all of us. What makes you optimistic in
Speaker 1: this moment, what makes the really optimistic, Kim, is the
Speaker 1: things I see now in terms of people making the
Speaker 1: sacrifices UM, which are really important that we continue to
Speaker 1: do so UM by volunteering to stay home and not
Speaker 1: spread as far as that is not in it, but
Speaker 1: so sort of giving. So I'm just very impressed with
Speaker 1: bad and I hope people will will still continue to
Speaker 1: do so. The other wayson I'm really optimistic is that
Speaker 1: we found some solutions to some of the cracks that
Speaker 1: we that we saw kids now have to learn by computer,
Speaker 1: and we discovered that many of our kids and public
Speaker 1: schools didn't have computers, and so the private sector reached
Speaker 1: out and donated computers to these kids who didn't have it.
Speaker 1: You know, likewise food UM was not available to kids
Speaker 1: when when schools closed, so people came up the solution
Speaker 1: of having you know, pilate places wh kids can come
Speaker 1: and grab and go with their mills. So it's highlighted
Speaker 1: the needs cracts in our system. But it also gives
Speaker 1: me a positive optimism that you know, we've come up
Speaker 1: with solutions when we need to. Well, it's I'm wonderful
Speaker 1: to talk to you about this, and I think we'll
Speaker 1: be checking back in with you. UM. We will all
Speaker 1: try to maintain the good and sort of calming attitude
Speaker 1: that you have about staying calm and not panicking. And
Speaker 1: it's good to hear that you think that we as
Speaker 1: a society and then our financial markets are resilient. So
Speaker 1: thanks so much Aaron for joining us. Now, thanks thank
Speaker 1: you for having me chim and and also yes, thank
Speaker 1: you to the healthcare providers and those are out there
Speaker 1: in the front lines supporting us every day. Yes, we
Speaker 1: really have to be grateful for these health care providers.
Speaker 1: What they're doing is just so incredible. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: Aaron for joining us. Bye bye. You're listening to Seneca
Speaker 1: Women Conversations on Power and per This brought to you
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Speaker 1: Women Conversations on Power and Purpose on the I Heart
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