WEBVTT - Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend - January 21st, 2022 0:00:01.080 --> 0:00:05.440 This is Bloomberg Business Week inside from the reporters and 0:00:05.600 --> 0:00:09.200 editors who bring you America's most trusted business magazine, plus 0:00:09.240 --> 0:00:13.200 global business, finance and tech news as it happened. Sloomberg 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:16.759 Business Week with Carol Messier and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:21.360 Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. Hi, everyone, Welcome to the weekend 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:23.959 edition of Bloomberg Business Week. Another busy week full of 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:27.360 financial market volatility, tech stock selling off, and then of 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:29.880 course you had President by marking his first year in office. 0:00:30.120 --> 0:00:32.839 And even after a nearly two our press conference on Wednesday, 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:35.880 the administration's plans and goals when it comes to China, well, 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:38.680 they're still largely unclear. We're gonna get into that with 0:00:38.800 --> 0:00:41.680 our White House team. And speaking of China, the Winter Olympics, 0:00:41.680 --> 0:00:44.560 they're just around the corner. Beijing is in a very 0:00:44.600 --> 0:00:46.600 different place than it was the last time it hosted 0:00:46.600 --> 0:00:49.479 the games back in two thousand eight. That's the subject 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:51.720 of our global cover story. We'll also check in with 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:54.160 a pair of CEOs from two global giants, Cisco and 0:00:54.200 --> 0:00:57.360 a B InBev. Chuck Robbins and Michelle Dukeris weigh in 0:00:57.440 --> 0:00:59.760 on the outlook and challenges ahead. All of that to 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:01.600 and let's kick things off with an overview of this 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:04.560 week's new issue of Bloomberg Business Week, editor Joel Webber 0:01:04.680 --> 0:01:06.840 joining us now, and Joel, we're gonna start with some 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:11.560 news right in technology, massive deal Microsoft set to buy 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:16.920 video GameMaker Activision, Blizzard, Serifire and Dina Bass covering that story. 0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:19.240 I mean, a lot of this has to do with 0:01:19.319 --> 0:01:22.440 the metaverse. So this is uh it ended up being. 0:01:22.520 --> 0:01:24.960 If it goes through and has approved, this will be 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:29.880 Microsoft's biggest deal ever, and it is a huge bet 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:33.640 on gaming. Obviously, Microsoft already huge in gaming when you 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:36.720 think about where they've bend forever with the Xbox and 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:40.600 then Minecraft, and but where where things are going clearly, 0:01:41.000 --> 0:01:44.080 you know with Facebook's pivot to changing its name to 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:48.440 to meta Um, you know, Microsoft definitely doesn't want to 0:01:48.440 --> 0:01:50.400 lose out on that, and in many ways actually may 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:53.640 even have a leg up because of their their kind 0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:57.080 of history and gaming. Like you think about how how 0:01:57.200 --> 0:02:01.000 how gamers interact with with games, and it actually starts 0:02:01.040 --> 0:02:03.200 to look a lot like where the metaverse might might go. 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:06.520 So so this is really an effort to claim that 0:02:06.600 --> 0:02:10.280 real estate would make them the third biggest gaming company 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:13.600 in the world if it's approved, um so, so I 0:02:13.639 --> 0:02:16.960 think this is an aggressive move and shows how seriously 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:21.480 people are taking um Facebook's pivot into the metaverse. It's 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:23.200 still i think unclear to a lot of people though, 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:25.160 And I think when you think about the metaverse, the 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:26.880 way you can imagine it and the way a lot 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:30.160 of people describe it is it starts with something with gaming, 0:02:30.639 --> 0:02:33.360 But how does it go pass gam angel and and 0:02:33.400 --> 0:02:36.800 move into something that you know would be used for productivity, 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:39.960 which Microsoft for years has really prided itself on, right 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:42.919 being the productivity solution. Yeah, we we don't know yet. 0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:46.680 It's too early because so much of where where the 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:49.320 metaverse is going, what it looks like it is yet 0:02:49.360 --> 0:02:54.120 to be you know created. Um It's just it seems like, uh, 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:57.880 this virtual land that could have sort of infinite potential 0:02:57.880 --> 0:03:00.280 and like anything that you wanted to create their hood. 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:04.080 But but you're right, you know Microsoft's history, um uh 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:06.919 in the productivity space in the office suite obviously that 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:10.000 is like part of what they do. You could see 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:12.680 a future where you know, your your avatar, we're all 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:16.800 meeting as avatars and having this conversation in the metaverse. UM. 0:03:16.840 --> 0:03:20.040 Perhaps Microsoft has some ways to get there sooner because 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:22.320 in the short term, you know, all the kind of 0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:25.600 the the ideas that we're seeing, you know, it's sort 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:30.160 of Torso esque UM avatars. So so I think one 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:32.120 of the big unlocks is whether or not a company 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:36.480 can get to a version of of that virtual world 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:38.680 that looks much more similar to what we're used to. 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:41.800 And obviously, you know, gaming has been very much on 0:03:41.800 --> 0:03:45.480 the forefront of of unlocking what that reality could look like. 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:47.640 I gotta get to another story that's in the magazine 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:51.120 about the Ponzi schemer on the Pacific tell Us about 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:55.440 Gina Champion Kane. So this is just a story that UM, 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:58.160 we had never heard of her, you know, and she 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:03.520 was a really prom developer entrepreneur in San Diego, UM 0:04:03.760 --> 0:04:06.400 and not sort of a normal city that we talked 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:10.120 about a lot um, but she was just this force 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:14.200 down there UM over the past decade UM, and it 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:16.360 came out coming out of the financial crisis, kind of 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:18.760 came out of nowhere to kind of put together this 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:24.120 um little burgeoning empire that on paper looked big, but 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:27.239 it turns out she was running this Ponty scheme. UM 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:31.080 that defrauded friends and investors out of hundreds of millions 0:04:31.080 --> 0:04:34.799 of dollars. She was convicted um and is now serving 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:37.159 out her sentence. But it was just one of those 0:04:37.160 --> 0:04:40.480 ones that locally everyone in San Diego knew about this story, 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:45.320 and nationally it didn't ever crack that sort of bigger story. 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:49.640 So Chris Pomorsky, with an amazing tell um telling everything 0:04:49.640 --> 0:04:53.440 about Jina Champion came which we think is probably um 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:56.480 in the post Bertie made off Landscape. She's probably the 0:04:56.520 --> 0:05:00.600 biggest female Ponzi schemer we've ever seen. That's a big deal. 0:05:00.640 --> 0:05:05.680 Four million dollars joel Uh. Nobody, no other woman in 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:09.160 history has has been accused or convicted of a Ponzi 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:13.960 scheme that large. So the secret to how this all 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:16.880 ran was this um escrow account, and elements of this 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:20.240 are are still actually um in court UM. But this 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:23.839 escrow account was somepany called Chicago Title. And one of 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:26.360 the ways that she was able to do this was 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:32.320 by um Uh doing this little scheme with over liquor licenses. 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:35.440 And I think it was because it was it looked 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:39.680 like a really good um Uh investment opportunity. So a 0:05:39.680 --> 0:05:44.520 lot of sophisticated investors, including private equity, were you know, 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:49.120 allured by this um untapped potential. And she really was 0:05:49.160 --> 0:05:52.680 able to capitalize on that. Uh. And that's why, regardless 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:54.160 of whether or not she was a woman, it was just, 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:57.320 you know, like an amazing Ponzi scheme that for for 0:05:57.480 --> 0:06:00.400 years went undetected until finally at all unraveled. All right, 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:03.360 so who should player in the streaming series? You know 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:07.000 this one? Well? You know, the interesting part of this 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:10.440 story is like the in the climax, you know, she 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:13.160 um she says that, you know, she wants to make 0:06:13.360 --> 0:06:16.400 make everyone whole, that all her victims, meaning of them 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:18.720 again where her friends? And she even went so far 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:20.920 as to say, you know, you know, when I sell 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:24.039 the right Stone life story, maybe you know Demmi Moore 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:26.960 would would maybe play me since you know, she looked 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:31.800 like me, just in case you were wondering, right, big 0:06:31.839 --> 0:06:34.280 thank you to Business Week editor Joel Weber. We're gonna 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:36.600 have more from this week's issue Joel just a little 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:39.120 bit later on, including more on that cover story with 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:41.480 Janet Paskin. Coming up next, the head of a b 0:06:41.680 --> 0:06:45.960 InBev on aggressive sustainability goals and the economic challenges facing 0:06:46.000 --> 0:06:57.600 the world's biggest brewer. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg 0:06:57.640 --> 0:07:01.240 Business Week with Carol Masser and Berg Quick takes Tim 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:06.599 Stinovik from Bloomberg Radio. This week, Deloitte to SHAMASO was 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:08.520 out with a new survey, and it found that more 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:12.520 than percent of topics X surveyed said that climate change 0:07:12.520 --> 0:07:16.480 had already negatively affected their businesses and him only had 0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:19.160 implemented some of the most common tools across their firms 0:07:19.160 --> 0:07:22.840 to address the challenge. It's basically taking goals and turning 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:25.080 it into impact. They have the goals, but it's hard 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:27.320 to actually take action and have an impact, right, there's 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:30.239 still that disconnect there. That research it was the foundation 0:07:30.280 --> 0:07:32.120 for a Bloomberg Live event that looked at how the 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:36.480 C suite is reconciling climate change ambitions with actual impact. 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:39.280 One company that's been all in non sustainability for years, though, 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:41.880 is the world's biggest brewer, A b in bad Yeah, 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:44.680 they've seen everything firsthand and and taken action for as 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:46.760 you said, many years. As part of the Virtual Forum, 0:07:46.760 --> 0:07:49.240 I caught up with Michelle du Carris. He became CEO 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:52.120 of A b InBev just last summer, we talked about 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:54.920 the challenges facing his company in the current environment and 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:58.960 whether it's sustainability goals are within reach. I've got to 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:02.040 say they're actually hitting those goals ahead of time. That 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:05.360 is the impact that we can have as a company. 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:10.440 That we dined the walls of the company, then there 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:14.040 is this extended impact on what we like to call 0:08:14.160 --> 0:08:19.280 the ecosystem of a bi that has farmers, that has 0:08:19.360 --> 0:08:22.000 the retailers, and I can talk to you about the 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:24.960 impact on the retailers as well. And then there is 0:08:25.000 --> 0:08:29.200 a much bigger impact because when you think about us 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:33.240 a hundred and sixty four thousand employees, we have two 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:38.720 point five billion consumers. The real large scale impact and 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:43.560 influence they come when we have our brands that connect 0:08:43.720 --> 0:08:47.000 much water consumers every day. And if we can bring 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:52.000 the farmers, the retailers and the consumers to play a role, 0:08:52.520 --> 0:08:55.960 then they scale and the reach that they can have 0:08:56.640 --> 0:09:02.680 gets magnified. Right, So we are converting all our operations 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:07.920 to be renewable energy, but we do have two hundred 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:10.440 and fifty factors. There's a lot, but there are only 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:14.200 two d fifty factors globally now. But wise they got 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:18.839 into the middle of the energy and is using renewable 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:23.760 energy as a broker to influence retailers that are more 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:28.000 than six million retailers globally to go renewable energy as 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:32.120 all they cannot afford to buy renewable energy by themselves. 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:34.400 But but wise it is now acting as a broker 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:38.560 with no profits to buy bulk energy and do the 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:42.720 distribution to our retailers and our consumers. They always play 0:09:42.720 --> 0:09:45.640 a role. We do this with water with water Dot 0:09:45.800 --> 0:09:49.960 arm where we help women across the globe to have 0:09:50.240 --> 0:09:55.439 water available very low cost. That water Dot organ in 0:09:55.480 --> 0:10:00.160 Stellartois work together to provide in their impacting he which 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:03.439 amount of people globally and now our brands are doing 0:10:03.480 --> 0:10:07.760 always with phone calls, heat and there, renewable energy, water, 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:12.880 organic agriculture and then you multiply the effect because you 0:10:12.960 --> 0:10:16.400 have the consumers into the the equation as well. And 0:10:16.440 --> 0:10:18.920 this is very impact. It's good for business. So tell 0:10:18.960 --> 0:10:21.240 me a little bit about what you think, Michelle, your 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:23.440 targets are for this year. As you said, you guys 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:28.400 have laid out hundred in terms of sustainability missions. You 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:31.199 know you're hitting some of this ahead of it, like 0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:34.280 when it comes to energy. Um, what about your targets 0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:36.160 for this year? And I do wonder we're still in 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:39.480 a pandemic. I'm at home. Um, you know, it's still 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:41.839 kind of a world where we take a step forward 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:45.359 and maybe half a step backward. What are your targets 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:49.319 in terms of sustainability for this year and what might 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:51.320 be some of the obstacles that make it a little tougher. 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:55.360 We have our five goals, and we like to set 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:59.360 mid term goals and long term goals. And the midterm 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:03.640 goals are whether you really make progress right and they 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:11.000 are very measurable. And we have water and empowering farmers 0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:16.640 to be digitally empowered and more productive, and circular packaging. 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:19.679 Those are the big four goals that we have. We 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:21.880 love talking to someone like you because you have such 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:24.760 a global view and you're seeing what's going on the 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:27.559 consumer when you look at the outlook, you know, is 0:11:27.600 --> 0:11:30.840 there anything that worries you about you know, you having 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:32.920 to kind of focus on that more, whether it's the 0:11:32.960 --> 0:11:36.800 consumer not holding up this year, the global economy slowing down, 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:40.839 you know, global bankers making a policy mistake that complicates 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:43.360 you know, what you're trying to do here when it 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:46.080 comes to your sustainability initiatives. Essentially, I want to know 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:49.520 what you think about the global outlook now. I think 0:11:49.559 --> 0:11:56.079 that we are definitely moving into a better period after 0:11:56.200 --> 0:12:00.400 all these disruptions in COVID. I think that then, for fortunately, 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:04.240 we are not dead yet because you know that some 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:07.440 countries are getting our war macron uh and as you 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:11.199 get the wave of for macrome, some more disruptions in 0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:14.160 supply chain will happen. I think that this will continue 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:17.560 to be a topic this year, and more so in 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:20.679 the first half of the year, while in the second 0:12:20.679 --> 0:12:23.600 half of the year things will be better. But it's 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:26.640 not going to be fixed at all these years, so 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:30.079 supply chain disruptions will continue to be part of our conversation. 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:32.319 It's going to be more in the first half than 0:12:32.360 --> 0:12:36.480 in the second. The second big issue is inflation. I 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:40.440 think that inflation is an issue globally. It's not going 0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:44.040 to be away very quick. We are still in the 0:12:44.080 --> 0:12:47.400 middle of the wave and that has an impact in 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:52.200 consumer purchase power and this is everywhere. But of course 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:57.040 the more consumers are under pressure in developing and emerging countries, 0:12:57.440 --> 0:13:00.720 the more this will be a disruption. And then I 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:04.319 think that the third point that's gonna be for second 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:09.760 semester is once everything settles down, we will see that 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:16.839 this difference between people in emerging developed countries and developing 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:21.400 emerging countries will be different the post COVID and we 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:24.600 will need to benefit from productive it. We will need 0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:28.360 to benefit from the technology step up that we had 0:13:28.440 --> 0:13:31.840 during COVID, so we can close this gap. But I 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:35.720 see like a tail of two different stories in the 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:40.440 after COVID, this so called elephant type of economy right 0:13:40.520 --> 0:13:46.200 where the developed mature countries we will accelerate further, while 0:13:46.320 --> 0:13:50.840 the developing countries will need first to correct that rejected 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:56.840 and then later re accelerate. But is supplied change disruptions, 0:13:57.120 --> 0:14:02.160 it's inflation. And then the two stories of the mature 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:06.320 and developing countries that we need to have different actions. 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:09.240 After that was Michelle du karras CEO of a b 0:14:09.440 --> 0:14:12.240 in BEV. You can catch the entire conversation by checking 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:15.800 out Bloomberg Live dot com and searching for Bloomberg Climate 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:18.640 Resilience still ahead on Bloomberg Business Week. One year into 0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:22.240 Joe Biden's presidential term, his policy towards China, it's still 0:14:22.240 --> 0:14:25.200 taking shape. Why the administration's fondness for the status quo 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:34.200 could hurt Democrats come November. This is Bloomberg Broadcasting from 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:37.840 the financial capital of the World, Bloomberg Eleve in Rio 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:41.840 in New York to Washington, d C. Bloomberg to Boston, 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:45.360 Bloomberg one oh six one does San Francisco, Bloomberg nine 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:48.720 six to the country Sirius XM Chamber one ninety and 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:53.160 around the globe the Bloomberg Business and Bloomberg Radio dot Com. 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:57.320 This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg 0:14:57.400 --> 0:15:04.520 Quick Takes. Tim Stenovan on Bloomberg Radio. Answer uncertain uncertain. 0:15:04.520 --> 0:15:06.000 I'd like to be able to be in a physician 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:09.480 where I can say they're meeting the commitments war the 0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:11.840 commitments can be able to lift some of it, but 0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:15.240 we're not there yet. That's President Biden. Earlier this week, 0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:17.920 he held a press conference marking his first year in office, 0:15:18.000 --> 0:15:21.960 talking about the successes and challenges and priorities that included 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:24.440 the U S relationship with China and whether it's time 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:27.440 to lift some of those terror of some Beijing. As 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:29.280 for now, they're going to stay in place. In the 0:15:29.280 --> 0:15:31.680 current issue of Bloomberg Business Week, Bloomberg News White House 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:34.160 reporter Jenny Leonard writes about how one year in the 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:37.760 president finds himself boxed in on China, largely because his 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:41.440 policy so far has resembled that of his predecessor. It 0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:45.640 does look a lot like you know, where Trump left office, 0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:49.040 and a lot of Democrats fear that that's sort of 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:54.160 a weakness going into the midterm elections because China, of course, 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:57.680 is something that energizes with voters. Of course, it takes 0:15:57.680 --> 0:16:02.040 a backseat to COVID and the economy right now. Uh, 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:05.000 but Biden hasn't really in the first year in office, 0:16:05.040 --> 0:16:07.520 put his own stamp on China policy. And even his 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:11.200 allies say, hey, you know, I think you I think 0:16:11.240 --> 0:16:14.320 we're we know what you're hinting at wanting to do, 0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:16.720 but we don't really know for sure, So why don't 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:20.840 you tell us? Um. The Biden administration has been meticulously 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:24.080 reviewing sort of what they inherited, right, if you guys 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:27.000 remember the trade war sort of ended with the Phase 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:33.240 one deal inherited that those negotiations are still ongoing. Uh. 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:36.280 The Chinese have fallen short on their commitments, which we 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:41.160 knew going into this administration. UM, and there's really no 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:45.720 timeline for when those negotiations should result in any sort 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:49.480 of outcomes. So um to sum it up, I would say, 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:52.440 you know, they really need to hit the gas to 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:56.160 to show something in the mid terms because Democrats are 0:16:56.160 --> 0:17:00.720 getting a little anti that Republicans sends a little weakness here. China, 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:03.320 we know, so important to global companies, But what's the 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:08.080 right balance when it's safe to say world leaders, US 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:10.560 leaders don't agree with Chinese social policies, but they also 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:13.160 don't want to lose access to the massive market potential 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:15.280 that continues to be out there. So what is the 0:17:15.400 --> 0:17:17.639 right policy with China? You hit the nail on the 0:17:17.680 --> 0:17:21.440 head there on exactly what you know any government or 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:23.960 any U S government is trying to balance and where 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:28.800 the different sort of voices come in when the different 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:32.080 principles from agencies are discussing it, right, So you you 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:35.760 would have you know, in thinking back to the Trump administration, 0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:39.119 you would of course have you know the more HACKISHENDVERSH sides. 0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:43.719 You know, Treasury, U SCR, Commerce, all these different entities 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:46.960 that here from different stakeholders. And I think the Biden 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:51.000 administration is hearing exactly the same things. Even if China 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:53.480 has become more and more difficult to deal with, even 0:17:53.520 --> 0:17:59.399 as supposedly, you know, there's less interest in investing in China. 0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:03.760 We're still seeing how interplined the economies are. And I 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:08.240 think you've seen at least the Commerce Secretary be very local, 0:18:09.359 --> 0:18:13.240 uh in this Biden administration saying decoupling is not an option, 0:18:13.320 --> 0:18:15.919 that is not something that is possible, that is not 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:19.840 something that's desirable. If anything, we need to slow that 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:22.239 down China as much as we can, but we need 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:26.280 to run faster. And so that's been the Biden administration's focus, 0:18:26.720 --> 0:18:30.000 you know, getting the can Rescue Plan pass getting the 0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:33.280 infrastructure plan passed, and you know, of course now working 0:18:33.280 --> 0:18:36.320 on their third big plan, the Build Back Better Plan, 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:41.080 which installed UM. So there isn't really anything in the 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:44.520 immediate term, and definitely nothing that they can show in 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:48.879 the biladal sense where they say, hey, we're competing with 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:51.080 China in a smarter way. Jenny, we got to talk 0:18:51.080 --> 0:18:53.720 about the politics of this. How are Republicans though, using 0:18:54.160 --> 0:18:57.480 the president's policy towards China, the administration's policy towards China, 0:18:57.680 --> 0:19:02.480 as a way to criticize him. So I think um 0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:06.720 Republicans are are definitely you know, seizing the moment that 0:19:06.880 --> 0:19:10.560 Biden for now, and they might prove us wrong, you know, 0:19:10.600 --> 0:19:14.760 in two months, but for now, Biden has adopted and 0:19:15.000 --> 0:19:19.720 kept in place Trump's policies, which, of course, uh you remember, 0:19:20.480 --> 0:19:24.480 the Republican Congress has pushed him there. There's a lot 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:27.800 of you know, China Hawks in Congress that are maybe 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:31.399 gearing up for presidential runs themselves in two that are 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:34.600 running for re election to their Senate seats or House 0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:39.120 seats in two Uh So they feel emboldened knowing that 0:19:39.160 --> 0:19:42.919 the Biden administration is sort of boxed in leaving in 0:19:43.000 --> 0:19:46.639 place the policies that you know, they sort of pushed 0:19:46.640 --> 0:19:50.879 the Trump administration to go for. Everyone knows that, you know, 0:19:51.119 --> 0:19:55.360 taking off pars will probably leave Biden even more vulnerable 0:19:55.440 --> 0:19:59.560 to criticism from Republicans. But adding more tariffs to it, 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:02.840 if that is your enforcement tool, is maybe not something 0:20:02.840 --> 0:20:05.520 they want to go down. It's it's not really a 0:20:05.560 --> 0:20:07.400 past they want to you know, go down. And so 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:11.919 Republicans see this current reality for Biden and you know, 0:20:12.760 --> 0:20:16.679 probably enjoying watching him through don't grab his way out 0:20:16.720 --> 0:20:19.000 of this box, finding his way out of the box 0:20:19.040 --> 0:20:21.200 that's going to be tricky. That was Bloomberg News White 0:20:21.200 --> 0:20:24.200 House reporter Jenny Leonard. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. 0:20:24.280 --> 0:20:27.159 Coming up next, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins on how his 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:31.040 company is adapting to rising cost pressures and leveraging technology 0:20:31.200 --> 0:20:35.119 to meet increasing demand for hybrid work. This is Bloomberg. 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:46.159 You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and 0:20:46.280 --> 0:20:51.600 Bloomberg Quick Takes. Tim Stinovich from Bloomberg Radio. Alright, so 0:20:51.640 --> 0:20:57.040 earning season is underway. You know that we've heard all right, 0:20:57.040 --> 0:20:59.160 we're either in one, looking forward to one, or coming 0:20:59.200 --> 0:21:01.320 out of one. Um. We did hear from the big 0:21:01.359 --> 0:21:03.840 banks over the past week or so, a couple of airlines, 0:21:03.880 --> 0:21:06.720 Netflix as well. One of the things, Tim, we really 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:09.200 love about quarterly updates is that we hear from top 0:21:09.240 --> 0:21:11.520 executives the c suite about the health of the economy 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:14.480 and we get their respective outlooks. Yeah, we also got 0:21:14.520 --> 0:21:17.520 that this week, Carol from the Bloomberg Year Ahead Summit. 0:21:17.720 --> 0:21:19.879 You actually caught up with Chuck Roberts, the chairman and 0:21:19.920 --> 0:21:22.760 CEO of Cisco, to talk all about what to expect 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:25.600 when it comes to the world of technology. In two 0:21:25.720 --> 0:21:28.480 it was a really fun conversation. Chuck is seven years 0:21:28.480 --> 0:21:31.600 in s CEO of Cisco, and in this excerpt he 0:21:31.720 --> 0:21:34.240 shares his thoughts on the economy, the hybrid work model, 0:21:34.600 --> 0:21:37.760 and of course the ongoing pandemic. We went into one 0:21:37.880 --> 0:21:41.920 with high expectations and unfortunately we we came to realize 0:21:42.000 --> 0:21:44.159 to your point earlier when we were chatting, when you 0:21:44.160 --> 0:21:47.560 think you were moving on, we'll get we'll get surprised 0:21:47.600 --> 0:21:50.679 and and realize how little is in our control at 0:21:50.720 --> 0:21:53.320 the end of the day. But I think this year, 0:21:54.359 --> 0:21:58.719 you know, we're hopeful that that oh macron is is 0:21:58.760 --> 0:22:01.960 the signal that we're getting close to the end. Uh 0:22:02.000 --> 0:22:04.879 and uh. You know, when you listen to the medical experts, 0:22:04.880 --> 0:22:07.360 they at least insinuated that may be the case. Obviously 0:22:07.359 --> 0:22:10.359 there's a risk of other variants. But I think people 0:22:10.400 --> 0:22:13.320 are ready, and it's I think they've been ready as 0:22:13.320 --> 0:22:15.800 we all are. And as much as we love this 0:22:15.880 --> 0:22:19.200 technology and we're so proud of what it's been able 0:22:19.200 --> 0:22:21.640 to do to keep the world running and keep people productive, 0:22:21.840 --> 0:22:24.520 I think people are dying to get back and spend 0:22:24.560 --> 0:22:27.480 time together and be in person. What do you think 0:22:27.560 --> 0:22:29.920 in terms of the general macro outlook. How does it feel, 0:22:29.960 --> 0:22:31.720 you know what we've been talking about. I'm sure you 0:22:31.800 --> 0:22:33.920 guys have to. You have certainly on some of the 0:22:34.000 --> 0:22:37.720 earnings calls about supply chain problems and being able to access, 0:22:37.880 --> 0:22:39.880 you know, all the materials that you need. How does 0:22:39.920 --> 0:22:42.240 it feel and does the economy feel like it'll be 0:22:42.320 --> 0:22:45.439 growing but maybe not as as rapid as we'd like. 0:22:46.240 --> 0:22:48.159 It's so hard to predict because I think if you 0:22:48.160 --> 0:22:50.679 go back to the March of most all of us 0:22:50.720 --> 0:22:52.960 thought that as we went into a global pandemic that 0:22:53.040 --> 0:22:56.639 the economy would suffer, and we saw just the opposite 0:22:56.760 --> 0:22:58.600 over the last two years. And so there's a couple 0:22:58.600 --> 0:23:00.200 of things I think they are going on. Number One, 0:23:00.720 --> 0:23:03.040 the year of year comparisons will just make it very 0:23:03.040 --> 0:23:07.120 difficult because one was such a robust year. And then 0:23:07.160 --> 0:23:09.480 I think the obviously the FIT is going to move 0:23:09.520 --> 0:23:11.960 and begin to raise rates, which will have some impact 0:23:12.040 --> 0:23:15.399 on the economy as well. But I think that you know, 0:23:15.400 --> 0:23:19.840 the investment cycle that that companies are are ah in 0:23:19.880 --> 0:23:23.080 the middle of, and how they're thinking about technology investments 0:23:23.119 --> 0:23:25.800 and how they're thinking about their future. It seems to 0:23:25.800 --> 0:23:29.280 be a pretty robust investment environment that we see in 0:23:29.320 --> 0:23:31.680