WEBVTT - Fed Policy During Coronavirus Outbreak 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:02.960 This is Bloomberg Business Week. I'm Carol Masser and I'm 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:05.520 Jason Kelly. We're here every day bringing you the latest 0:00:05.519 --> 0:00:09.800 news from the world's of business and finance, plus technology, politics, economics, 0:00:09.840 --> 0:00:13.480 all harnessing the power of Bloomberg Business Week reporters and editors, 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:16.759 not to mention our journalists and analysts more than a 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:19.520 hundred and twenty countries. You can download Bloomberg Business Week 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:22.439 on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Bloomberg dot Com. You can also 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:24.919 listen to our radio show weekdays at two pm Eastern 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:29.520 only on Bloomberg Radio. Now. One story that struck um my. 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:32.040 We struck me earlier and really caught my attention about 0:00:32.040 --> 0:00:34.360 government's finally getting the message that they're going to have 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:37.800 to run exponentially bigger budget deficits to keep economies afloat 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:40.680 as the coronavirus brings the world to a sudden halt. 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:43.040 So there's lots of scrambling going on. I do want 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:45.840 to talk a bit about the economy and what we're seeing. 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:49.520 Diane Swank certainly friend to Bloomberg, Chief economists at Grant Thornton. 0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:52.879 She's on the phone from Chicago. Diane, good to have 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:55.880 you here. YouTube. We you know, we were talking earlier 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:57.880 about folks who have seen a lot of different cycles, 0:00:57.960 --> 0:01:01.600 market cycles, economic cycles, user we have seen several Where 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:05.360 does this stack up. There's just nothing to compare it 0:01:05.400 --> 0:01:10.920 to the extraordinary, just absolute stop and economic activity. That's 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:13.720 nothing that there is any precedence for. I mean, the 0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:16.520 losses that we saw a compound during the height of 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:19.199 the crisis. We're still done over the course of weeks 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:23.400 and months, not literally overnight, as cities were shut down. Um, 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:26.840 we're shutting down manufacturing, in the service sector, everything all 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:29.800 at once, and there's no ability for many consumers to 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:32.480 actually go out and spend, even if they do get 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:34.800 these stop gap measures. That doesn't mean the stock gat 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:40.760 measures aren't absolutely necessary. We can't stop recession from coming. Um, 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:44.399 we do have to go through this virus induced recession, 0:01:44.720 --> 0:01:48.840 but we can keep people afloat in COVID tainted waters 0:01:48.880 --> 0:01:52.160 that allow us to have a better rebound once we 0:01:52.240 --> 0:01:56.360 can ramp up again and the outbreak has abated. And 0:01:56.440 --> 0:01:59.880 so Diane, let's talk about the FED because obviously, you know, 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:02.440 we were to come up with almost a metaphor. You've 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:04.760 got j Pali sort of running through the arsenals that 0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:08.440 we're opening every cabinet that he can, taking out every weapon, 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:11.600 what's been the most effective? What else does he and 0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:14.680 the team need to do here or can they do well? 0:02:14.720 --> 0:02:17.200 You know, it's interesting the UM up ed piece written 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:20.960 by former FED chairs Bernacki and Yellen, who actually, you know, 0:02:21.160 --> 0:02:24.119 have the value of hindsight and knowing exactly how bad 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:27.040 a financial crisis can be, suggesting that the FED, you know, 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:30.520 reopen UM, revisit Congress and restart the long term asset 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:34.160 backed lending facility program that allows them to lend more 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:37.720 aggressively and get credit to households and businesses, but also 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:41.760 asking Congress for permission to UM actually buy in the 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:44.480 corporate bond market, which is seizing up. They have the 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:47.400 value of high indsight and knowing the actual you know, 0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:51.320 we don't want this health crisis. It is already metastasizing 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:55.000 into a financial crisis. We have to stop that. And 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:57.400 UM the FED is going to need a lot more latitude. 0:02:57.400 --> 0:02:59.560 And actually their wings were clipped in the wake of 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:01.640 the cry this because Comngress didn't want them to have 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:03.680 that latitude. Well now you want them to have a 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:06.840 lot more latitude. So literally they can start using the 0:03:06.840 --> 0:03:09.120 three D printer to print up a new arsenal of 0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:11.760 tools to deal with an intervene and credit markets where 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:15.080 they belong. To keep the oil of the market machinery 0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:18.200 sort of in there. Without it, the market itself well 0:03:18.400 --> 0:03:21.480 sees up, the entire economy will see up. Credit markets 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:24.080 are the oil of the market machine. So keeping that 0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:28.440 machinery of the market as well as uh the economy running, 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:30.440 Diane at this point as much as we can. At 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:33.680 this point. During the financial crisis, we got an unbelievable 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:36.920 amount of coordination. I felt along all different branches of 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:40.960 the government, of central banks, of bankers, I really felt 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:44.280 like the global community we saw come together. Are we 0:03:44.320 --> 0:03:47.480 seeing that necessary coordination that we need to combat this 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:50.240 on a health level as well as a market level 0:03:50.280 --> 0:03:53.960 and economy level. Badly, I wish we had a lot 0:03:53.960 --> 0:03:56.680 more coordination. I mean, first of all, we have fewer tools, 0:03:56.920 --> 0:03:59.120 um than we did back then. You really had a 0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:01.840 sense that all or as are in the water globally 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:04.960 to try to get us from turbulent waters to land. 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:08.640 During the height of the financial crisis, the coordination has 0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:11.000 you know, we've seen you know, a lot of breaks 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:14.360 in our coordination, and that is showing up in not 0:04:14.400 --> 0:04:16.680 only are dealing with the crisis, but how the crisis 0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:19.159 have sped from country to country. And I think you 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:21.640 know the thing we always forget is we all have 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:24.719 a common enemy here. We have to fight this global 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:27.880 phenomena that there's a health crisis together, and the common 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:31.960 enemy is the new coronavirus, the novel coronavirus. And doing 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:36.799 that collectively testing, increasing the number of tests, being able 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:40.480 to take lessons from countries like Korean Singapore that didn't 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:43.840 have as bad of a disruption from the viral outbreak 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:48.559 and the surge in cases as we're seeing elsewhere, including here. 0:04:49.080 --> 0:04:51.160 That's important because this is not the last time we're 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:53.000 going to have a pandemic. We have to get the 0:04:53.080 --> 0:04:56.680 lessons from this and move forward. Diane only got about 0:04:56.720 --> 0:05:00.279 a minute left here. Uh, when will we see the 0:05:00.320 --> 0:05:02.960 full economic impact of this? I know that's a really 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:05.240 difficult question, but when will we start to at least 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:09.160 get the sort of parameters or some sense of our 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:11.520 arms around it. Any modeling that you guys are doing, 0:05:12.320 --> 0:05:14.960 We're doing lots of modeling, and um, it's really hard 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:17.159 because you get a decline in GDP that has a 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:20.840 disproportionate decline in jobs. And you know, we're looking at 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:23.600 something close to right now high of you know, close 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:27.800 to seven on the unemployment rate um. And then as 0:05:27.839 --> 0:05:30.599 things come back, um and that's almost over seven million 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:33.200 jobs just close to financial crisis. It could be more 0:05:33.240 --> 0:05:35.640 than that because of just the sheer magnitude of people 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:39.760 that are literally overnight losing jobs. Um. That is what's 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:42.000 really hard. That is not you know, the magnitude of 0:05:42.000 --> 0:05:45.919 losses in GP don't compare to that because, um it, 0:05:46.279 --> 0:05:48.440 you don't have the same kind of reaction function. The 0:05:48.520 --> 0:05:50.560 models you have to break them because you have this 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:53.120 extraordinary disruption. But you can also have a very rapid 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:57.039 ramp up after we get through the crisis and learn 0:05:57.120 --> 0:06:00.279 even with anti viral drugs and better testing and better average, 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:03.799 better technology of how to mitigate the effects of the outbreak, 0:06:04.080 --> 0:06:06.400 we could be able to see a much bigger ramp 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:09.919 up later on. Well, and I think you're pointing about, 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:12.080 this isn't the last time we're gonna be dealing with 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:14.280 these kinds of situations. So we got we we really 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:17.400 have to figure out the playbook and really prevent it. Uh. 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:19.760 I know how to be prepared for Diane Swamp, thank 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:21.719 you so much. We know this is a busy time. 0:06:21.760 --> 0:06:25.479 Diane Swamp, chief economist at Grant Thornton, joining us on 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:30.000 the phone from Chicago. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week 0:06:30.160 --> 0:06:34.479 with Carol Messer and Jason Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. Let's 0:06:34.560 --> 0:06:37.760 turn now to the medical side of this crisis. Lisa 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:41.120 Romano joins this, chief nursing officer for Cipher Health on 0:06:41.160 --> 0:06:44.240 the phone in New York City. And Lisa, great to 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:48.200 have you with us. And I should say, like anyone 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:52.039 in the medical world, we really owe a deep gratite 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:54.920 debt of gratitude. Uh two, So thank you for all 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:58.120 the work you're doing. Help us understand the screening side 0:06:58.320 --> 0:07:02.000 of this and the testing side, because that is at 0:07:02.000 --> 0:07:06.800 the core of making all of this better. Right, Yes, yes, 0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:12.280 thank you for having me. Uh. I can tell you that, uh, 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:18.080 you know, COVID nineteen continues to progress rapidly, you know, 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:21.679 seeing increasing number of cases, and we know that there 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:25.160 are steps to take to protect yourself. But at the 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:28.440 end of the day, UM, it is essential that we 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:33.320 perform screening before anyone comes into the hospital h for 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:36.600 any procedure or any visit. UM. We need to keep 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:41.040 the healthcare providers safe UH so that we have people 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:44.600 to take care of those that are sick. So the 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:48.720 screening that UM we are looking at, following you know 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:54.000 CDC guidelines and also now working UM with many hospitals 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:57.440 in the US that are taking care of patients with 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:01.760 the virus, is looking for stems like a dry cough, 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:06.440 fever greater than a hundred point three UM, and shortness 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:10.800 of breath. UM. The good news is that most patients 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:16.400 UH do recover from infection with COVID nineteen, but we 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:19.720 do see patients at a point that they start to 0:08:20.160 --> 0:08:26.080 experience symptoms of UM respiratory distress UH, you know, difficulty 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:31.480 breathing that they do need care. So screening is essential UM. 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:35.200 And then following that up with testing. And we have 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:40.800 seeing that there is more availability of lab testing now UM, 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:46.280 not quite as UM easy to get yet, but certainly 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:51.000 better than it was last week at this time UM. 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:54.600 And you know part of that laboratory testing is actually 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:58.440 getting test results to do and you know that has 0:08:58.480 --> 0:09:02.440 been a challenge for clinical providers that are baby taking 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:06.240 care of SURGE. So give us an idea though, because 0:09:06.280 --> 0:09:08.440 I do think there's so much still confusion among the 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:12.440 communities across America about should I get tested? Should I 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:14.880 not get tested? In terms of science, So what is 0:09:14.920 --> 0:09:18.480 this program? This reach you screening program? You guys, it 0:09:18.480 --> 0:09:23.200 sounds like are the screening program encourages hospitals and healthcare 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:27.640 systems to actually reach out to the community. Yeah. So 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:36.000 our our program uses telephone technology that allows the person 0:09:36.040 --> 0:09:39.120 who has been called to actually interact via the phone 0:09:39.320 --> 0:09:42.880 or by text message, UM using prompts, and we can 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:47.560 do the symptom checker asking those questions. UM. And if 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:51.280 they do answer a question in a way that it 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:55.079 triggers a you know, positive symptoms screening, it is escalated 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:59.520 to a live person. So it's essentially triaging patients. And 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:03.440 at that point, UM, when the you know, clinical provider 0:10:03.520 --> 0:10:07.600 calls that patient back, they're able to say, UM, we're 0:10:07.600 --> 0:10:11.959 going to reschedule your procedure or you can seek care 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:18.640 in this location. UM. Telemedicine has become very valuable during 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:22.440 this crisis, where you know, you can through a you know, 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:27.240 telephone screen, computer screen, actually see the doctor. So, UM, 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:33.120 screening is essential. So how worried should we be about 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:37.920 the numbers? Just spiking so dramatically here, Lisa, as more 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:42.600 testing comes through. UM, I have been a nurse for 0:10:42.679 --> 0:10:47.400 thirty two years. I have never seen anything quite like this. UM, 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:52.760 and I will say that I am concerned. UM. I 0:10:52.800 --> 0:10:56.920 think that part of the reason we're seeing this very 0:10:57.000 --> 0:11:00.959 dramatic rise, I mean literally from yesterday to today is shocking. Right. 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:04.840 There's currently the CDC is saying there's seven thousand, thirty 0:11:04.880 --> 0:11:08.360 eight cases in the US. UM is that we have 0:11:08.559 --> 0:11:11.920 more testing available, right, So some of that is that 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:15.280 we did have these patients before, we just didn't know 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:21.200 that they had the COVID nineteen virus. That said. UM, 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:25.920 what we've learned from looking at the progression of the 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:30.280 virus in other countries is that the escalation continues and 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:33.079 it continues to ramp up. And there's that bell shape 0:11:33.120 --> 0:11:36.400 curve that everyone sees on television, you know, trying to 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:39.480 you know, UM, trying to flatten that out. UM. The 0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:43.040 best way we can do that is through this now 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:47.439 trendy word of social distancing. Uh, you know, but that's 0:11:47.520 --> 0:11:50.680 difficult to do, so, you know, I mean, I think, 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:52.959 I mean, everybody should do their best, and we should 0:11:52.960 --> 0:11:55.240 absolutely try to do that, but there are some people 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:57.120 that do need to go to work that you know, 0:11:57.200 --> 0:11:58.760 do need to go out, do need to go to 0:11:58.760 --> 0:12:02.079 the hospital. So only the healthcare providers and that where 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:06.800 you need to take measures, right, you know, protecting yourself. Well, 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:10.000 we really appreciate your time, UM, Lisa, thank you so much. 0:12:10.040 --> 0:12:11.800 We know it's a hectic time for you as well. 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:15.240 Lisa Romana, she's chief nursing officer at Cipher Health. UH 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:17.920 here in New York City. You are listening to Bloomberg 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:20.880 Business Week on this Wednesday, Carol Master along with Jason Kelly, 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:24.840 both of us broadcasting from home, as are our next 0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:28.520 members of our team. Vernon Silver's Projects and Investigations reporter 0:12:28.559 --> 0:12:31.200 at Bloomberg News. He is on the phone from Rome. 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:34.360 Joel Weber is editor Bloomberg Business Week, on the phone 0:12:34.360 --> 0:12:36.719 in Brooklyn, And this is all about for and in 0:12:36.800 --> 0:12:40.199 your story, Um, really an important story to read, and 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:43.400 it talks about what happened in Italy specifically, and you 0:12:43.520 --> 0:12:47.000 talk about that there really was a huge denial that 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:48.800 was going on and now we see kind of how 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:50.559 this virus is playing out there. Talk to us a 0:12:50.559 --> 0:12:53.480 little bit about your story in the magazine this week. Yeah, 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:56.440 I mean What was amazing is to realize as this 0:12:56.640 --> 0:13:00.960 unfolded was that we and Italy were going through something 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:04.120 that people have gone through an epidemics through centuries, which 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:07.120 is the first do you think that it's somebody else's 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:10.040 problem and you know, just elbow it away, as as 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:13.480 the head of the big hospital in Milan who deals 0:13:13.520 --> 0:13:15.800 with these things says, And then next it's next door 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:17.400 and it's like, well, my neighbor has it, and then 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:19.280 you have it in your house and it's like, well, 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:21.840 it's not a big deal. And then finally you're you know, 0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:24.280 you're totally wrecked and you're all sick and everybody dies, 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:27.840 and then oh yeah, that was a problem. Um, and 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:31.400 this is exactly what had happened here. And talking to 0:13:31.480 --> 0:13:33.360 people and seeing, you know, even what was going on 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:36.640 social media, it looked like people in the UK, or 0:13:36.679 --> 0:13:39.560 in France or certainly in the US were only two 0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:46.000 weeks behind us in that process. And so vernon what 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:48.360 are the lessons? I mean, I feel like we are 0:13:48.520 --> 0:13:52.800 all in the United States looking to Italy with a 0:13:52.800 --> 0:14:00.240 combination of terror and anticipation and also desperately one to 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:04.040 know what, if anything, can we do differently? What lessons 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:06.960 are to be learned here. I mean, one thing to 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:10.800 do is is to take seriously, you know, any anything 0:14:10.800 --> 0:14:13.280 that you that you hear, even if it's not required. 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:15.920 And one big change that happened, and this is a 0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:19.880 slow process through through a week of people suggesting things 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:22.720 and then requiring things. You know that the north of 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:24.760 the country being locked down, the south of the country 0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:27.480 being locked down. At some point if things go in 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:31.000 this direction, you're going to want to be pretty much 0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:35.800 completely locked down and um well supplied and following the rules. 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:38.040 And one thing, one thing that was really clear is 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:41.520 that when there were rules, and again you know, totalitarian 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:43.800 tendencies aren't things that a lot of people like, but 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:46.040 when there are rules, it makes a lot of people 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:48.880 happier about knowing that everybody else is going to be 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:50.480 following the rules and they don't have to be self 0:14:50.480 --> 0:14:53.840 conscious about following the rules about what's going to be healthier, 0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:57.240 uh for everyone. And the other thing that that came 0:14:57.280 --> 0:14:59.720 out is that it's a kind of a filter to 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:03.400 see what sort of people surround you, whether they are 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:07.440 people with empathy or people who are only thinking for themselves. 0:15:07.480 --> 0:15:09.800 It's there's a lot that's going to come out on 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:13.000 the other end of this about discovering who you are, 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:16.160 who you're you know, neighbors are, who who you're you know, 0:15:16.480 --> 0:15:18.240 who your friends are, and who the people in your 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:26.160 community are. Get to that end, you know. I just 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:29.040 think UM a lot of when we read this story, 0:15:29.040 --> 0:15:32.000 when Vernon filed it, I think we were It was 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:35.440 like a punch to the gut in many ways, because 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:37.920 it was like, this thing is coming, you know, and 0:15:38.160 --> 0:15:40.800 we were able to see, you know, see it in advance, 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:44.560 and you start to, almost on a personal level, attempt 0:15:44.600 --> 0:15:47.560 to do some things that could help UM. But I 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:50.080 think the thing that was profound to the story and 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:53.280 why I just encourage everybody to read it on the 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:57.800 terminal or in this week's forthcoming issue or online. The 0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:01.200 thing that really stuck out is that there's human side 0:16:01.240 --> 0:16:04.760 to a catastrophe like this that we can't overlook. And 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:08.160 the fact, the takeaway that I think just struck us 0:16:08.160 --> 0:16:12.080 and literally provided a sense of awe was that. And Vernon, 0:16:12.120 --> 0:16:13.800 I would love to hear more from you about this. 0:16:13.920 --> 0:16:17.160 But at six pm every evening, romans are opening their 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:21.800 windows and singing together out their windows. UM. And if 0:16:21.840 --> 0:16:24.240 that doesn't give you some chills, and maybe even a 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:27.640 tear in your eye. I don't know what will yeah, 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:29.600 I mean this is this is one of the things 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:32.520 that we already were in a routine at six pm 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:35.880 every day of hearing that literally the death Toll, where 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:38.520 a man from Civil Protection would come on TV and say, 0:16:38.560 --> 0:16:40.080 this is how many people are in facted, this is 0:16:40.160 --> 0:16:44.360 how many people are dead. Um. And about a week 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:47.840 after everyone started watching that, um, once everyone got shut in, 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:50.280 they started this new tradition of everyone going to their 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:53.200 windows at six pm and singing and and it depends 0:16:53.200 --> 0:16:55.640 on the neighborhood, and it depends on if there's you know, 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:58.400 a ringleader who's going to strike up something or has 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:00.960 a guitar and or maybe turns to speakers of the 0:17:01.000 --> 0:17:04.639 stereo out the window and and get things going. UM. 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:07.879 But it is a battle that's constant of people to 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:11.440 sort of fight the sadness and the melancholia that's that's 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:14.840 always hanging in the air. But there are those moments 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:17.240 that make you think, all right, we're gonna pull We're 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:19.879 gonna pull through it. And having you know, this is 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:23.719 like a natural disaster, and having covered things like like hurricanes, 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:26.640 there's a certain sense of hope, Um, that you get 0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:29.280 where you think it's gonna be really really bad, and 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:33.080 very often because people take the right decisions and do 0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:36.639 the right things along the way and stick together, a 0:17:36.640 --> 0:17:38.960 lot of time ends up being a lot worse than 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:41.119 you thought it would be. And that and that's you know, 0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:44.200 that's how I you know, I see this coming out 0:17:44.280 --> 0:17:47.720 partly just through the character of Italians and how they've 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:50.520 come together with this. What I found striking Vernon too, 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:52.879 and just listening to various coverage and just folks how 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:55.560 they're lining this to going back to World War Two, 0:17:55.640 --> 0:17:57.960 like the bombings of London where people had to kind 0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:01.280 of really hunker down, you know, lights were off, everybody 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:03.760 was in their homes. Um. But it is you know, 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:06.080 and even the President I think talked about, you know, 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:08.720 bringing in the Department of Defense. This is a war, 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:12.760 it's a health war, but nonetheless it requires something that 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:16.600 I think for many of us have never seen before. Yeah, 0:18:16.640 --> 0:18:19.800 and I think in the war comparison. There was a 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:24.240 moment where the film The Garden of the Finsy Contini 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:26.959 uh came to mind, you know, as I was watching 0:18:26.960 --> 0:18:29.800 my kid playing tennis and part of um, you know, 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:33.040 while getting the death toll numbers coming in a part 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:36.080 of what that film and the novel have, you know, 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:39.240 as a central idea, is this thing where this family 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:41.840 that has you know, World War two encroaching on their 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:45.159 lives and they will soon perish, continues playing tennis and 0:18:45.200 --> 0:18:48.840 continues acting as if everything is is normal, when in 0:18:48.880 --> 0:18:51.920 fact they don't realize yet that it's that it's war. 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:55.560 And it wasn't until you know, recent days that in 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:58.440 Rome certainly the people realize, like you know what, it's 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:04.200 not cocktailer or anymore, it's it's it's coronavirus time. Yeah, amazing, amazing. Well, 0:19:04.280 --> 0:19:06.639 it's a terrific piece of reporting. We always count on you, 0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:10.600 Vernon for these types of really really important stories, and 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:13.639 you give it to a straight as always. Vernon Silver, 0:19:13.960 --> 0:19:16.960 one of our top reporters. Joining us from Rome. Joe Weber, 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:19.720 the editor of Bloomberg Business Week, joining us on the 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:24.280 phone from Brooklyn. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:28.480 Carol Masser and Jason Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. Let's head 0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:31.280 down to Washington now. Josh wynd Grove is their White 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:35.600 House correspondent for Bloomberg. Joining us from the White House 0:19:35.760 --> 0:19:39.920 a busy day, to say the least. This administration really 0:19:39.920 --> 0:19:43.520 on the front foot at this point, trying to stem 0:19:43.560 --> 0:19:47.720 at least the market reaction and provide some reassurance to 0:19:48.160 --> 0:19:52.360 consumers and businesses out there. Josh tell us the latest 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:54.719 obviously the big thing that a lot of people are 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:58.440 going onto our check showing up in people's mailboxes. How 0:19:58.480 --> 0:20:01.119 realistic is this? Where do we well? I think it 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:03.280 looks like it's going to slide into the third bill. 0:20:03.400 --> 0:20:05.320 The Senate looks poised to vote on the bill that 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:08.199 already passed the House while they figure out what to 0:20:08.240 --> 0:20:10.920 put into the next one. That means, in other words, 0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:15.000 the big sort of big money items to stimulus stuff, 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:17.600 including those checks. Look at they look like they're going 0:20:17.640 --> 0:20:20.119 to roll into the next piece of legislation and be 0:20:20.160 --> 0:20:23.159 a few days or more away. What we know the 0:20:23.200 --> 0:20:27.160 administration is asked for is two rounds of checks, two 0:20:27.600 --> 0:20:32.120 fifty billion per round, so five billion total sent directly 0:20:32.560 --> 0:20:36.760 to people. The exact number sort of dollar value, is 0:20:36.800 --> 0:20:38.840 both up in the air and looks like it could 0:20:38.840 --> 0:20:42.280 depend on your situation. For instance, are you lower income, 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:44.040 you might get more. Do you have kids? You might 0:20:44.080 --> 0:20:46.240 get more? So it's still up in the air. There 0:20:46.240 --> 0:20:48.920 does appear to be bipartisan support on it. Uh. The 0:20:49.160 --> 0:20:52.080 administration is also asking for about three hundred billion for 0:20:52.200 --> 0:20:56.200 small businesses to sort of bridge themselves. I guess one 0:20:56.240 --> 0:20:59.520 way or another through this if they can. Any one 0:20:59.560 --> 0:21:01.320 of us walk down the street of a major city 0:21:01.400 --> 0:21:04.040 right now knows what's coming down the pipe right now 0:21:04.080 --> 0:21:07.720 for restaurants, bars, shops, all these things, they're facing a 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:12.119 bit of a long spring without revenue, and well for 0:21:12.359 --> 0:21:16.159 bigger corporations, including fifty billion for airlines to try to 0:21:16.200 --> 0:21:19.160 get them through this. So really a lot of moving 0:21:19.200 --> 0:21:22.480 parts on this. President is also meeting shortly with nurses 0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:25.480 on the response and is really ratcheted up the wartime 0:21:25.560 --> 0:21:27.560 language today. That's been a bit of a tone change 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:30.520 on Trump thing we're at war with this virus. I 0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:32.680 have to ask you, yeah, we are totally at war. 0:21:32.800 --> 0:21:34.719 I feel like that is the new kind of how 0:21:34.760 --> 0:21:36.399 do you get your head around this? The thing I 0:21:36.440 --> 0:21:38.520 want to ask you, josh Um. I think there's an 0:21:38.600 --> 0:21:41.840 urgency to get programs done to help individuals, to help 0:21:41.840 --> 0:21:45.480 certainly the small business community, whether it's restaurants and others. Um. 0:21:45.480 --> 0:21:48.160 But when we're dealing with big business companies, big publicly 0:21:48.160 --> 0:21:51.720 held companies. There are lots of questions, um. You know, 0:21:51.840 --> 0:21:54.520 I'm sure you've heard the stories about, you know, why 0:21:54.520 --> 0:21:57.360 do we bail out the airlines that when they got 0:21:57.400 --> 0:21:59.560 this big tax break, they didn't use it to maybe 0:22:00.000 --> 0:22:02.040 all the safety net for themselves, but instead they did 0:22:02.119 --> 0:22:04.960 buy back. So I do wonder what's the balance of 0:22:05.119 --> 0:22:07.640 an urgency to get things done quickly because there are 0:22:07.840 --> 0:22:09.959 folks in small businesses that really need some help right 0:22:10.000 --> 0:22:12.920 now without doing maybe the wrong thing in terms of 0:22:12.960 --> 0:22:17.600