Marie Brenner - A Lockdown Letter From New York

In her latest piece for Vanity Fair, renowned journalist Marie Brenner draws parallels between New York City in the Great Depression and now during the COVID-19 Crisis. Most stark is a discovery Brenner stumbles upon during an evening jog: the conversion of Central Park’s Great Lawn into spillover medical treatment tents for COVID patients. The emergence of these tents evokes a sharp comparison with how the lawn was similarly dotted by tents as it became a Hooverville during the devastating downturn of the 1930s.

The comparisons don’t end there:

“I see New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and in his cadence, I hear a voice from the 1930s. ‘Forget the politics, we have a national crisis,’ he says. ‘We are not red, we are not blue, we are red, white, and blue.’ I see Cuomo, and I imagine an F.D.R. of this moment, a New Yorker who is steering America through a crisis without apparent end.”

Brenner’s “lockdown letter” paints a poignant personal and political picture of the uncertain times we are living through.

Read Marie’s full article here

Mohamed El-Erian Pens Op-Ed on the Economic Impact of the Coronavirus

Past TCG speaker and renowned economic thinker, Mohamed El-Erian addressed the challenges facing  individuals and businesses across the country in a recent op-ed for The Hill. 

“Last week, I spoke to a friend, an intensely dedicated doctor in Orange County, Calif...As the owner and chief operator of a small business, he is worried about something as basic as meeting payroll — previously, an unthinkable problem. This has become a pressing reality for him because of a devastating combination of business blows from seemingly all directions at once. His operating costs have increased as he tries to buy masks and other material needed to protect his staff from an incredibly contagious illness. His revenues have fallen as some patients postponed visits to the practice, fearing exposure to infection. “

These financial problems mirror the economic shock and potential disaster facing businesses across the nation. El-Erian suggests that what they're experiencing  highlights a problem with our “economy’s policy priorities”.

Read Mohamed’s full op-ed here

Secretary Jeh Johnson Writes Op-Ed on the Government Response to the Coronavirus

In a recent Op-ed with The Hill, former Secretary of Homeland Security and TCG Honorary Advisory Board member, Jeh Johnson offers his insight on the current government response to the coronavirus and urges officials to start taking concrete action to slow the spread of the virus.

“ Many reporters have asked me in recent days to critique the Trump administration’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. To try now to assess the administration’s response to this ongoing crisis is like trying to assess the government’s preparedness and response to 9/11 on 9/12, while first responders were still pulling the dead from the smoldering wreckage of the World Trade Center.

In the months and years ahead, scores of congressional committees, agency inspectors general and scholars will study the Trump administration’s actions in response to this crisis and why it did not take action sooner. This type of after-action second-guessing is one of the things that official Washington does best (if I sound a bit cynical here, I admit it’s from being the object of the same thing), and hopefully there will be things we learn from it.

But until a vaccine and a treatment for COVID-19 are found, we must urgently address the here and now, and devote our minds and energy to slowing the spread of the virus. Here are a few observations:

First, there is widespread misapprehension about the roles and authorities of federal, state and local governments to address the crisis. The federal government does not have the general legal authority to command people to shelter in place or stay away from public spaces and events. At most, the federal government has the authority to regulate our international borders, to limit the interstate travel of those with communicable diseases, and some limited, rarely invoked authority to quarantine people with a communicable disease who somehow present a threat to interstate travel. The authority to direct people to stay at home or stay away from their workplace is a public health and police power typically reserved to state and local governments. “

Read Jeh’s full op-ed here

Tom Rogers shares an article on "Finding the Common Good in a Pandemic“

CNBC founder and TCG Advisory Board Member Tom Rogers shared an article on “Finding the ‘Common Good’ in a Pandemic “- with the Harvard political philosopher Michael Sandel for the New York Times .Here’s a snippet:

“Tom Friedman: Well, if we are having a debate about what is the common good, how would you describe the actual competing positions?

Sandel: Think about the two emblematic slogans of the pandemic: “social distancing" and “we’re all in this together.” In ordinary times, these slogans point to competing ethical principles — setting ourselves apart from one another, and pulling together. As a response to the pandemic, we need both. We need to separate ourselves physically from our friends and co-workers in order to protect everyone, to prevent the virus from spreading.”

Read the full op-ed here

Robin & Bill Hubbard on how they're daughter Alyssa is helping combat the coronavirus

Alyssa Hubbard, the daughter of TCG community members Robin & Bill Hubbard, worked with Yext to build the New Jersey government’s coronavirus website pro bono to get residents crucial information during this crisis. Yext  has been praised by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy:

Check out the site: https://covid19.nj.gov/

TCG Advisory Board Member David Kemp Shares his Coronavirus Experience

We asked our TCG community to share their thoughts, experiences, and stories during the coronavirus. Here is President of CurePSP and TCG Advisory Board Member, David Kemp’s coronavirus crisis update from Minnesota.

“I am “social distancing” with my girlfriend, Martha, in Rochester, MN, where she works for the Mayo Clinic in fundraising, which means she can work from home. CurePSP has been working from home for almost three weeks now. 

Cases here in Minnesota continue to climb and the governor has just issued an order for closure of nonessential businesses, restrictions on gatherings, and instructions for people to stay home. Effectively, this had happened already — there seems to be no escaping the coronavirus. We go our for daily walks (though the weather has been nasty), but I miss my gym and tennis club. Cooking at home has been a new adventure as neither of us particularly likes cooking, but with a few glasses of wine or an Old Fashioned, we enjoy it. I am finding that working from home is not very efficient, as there are always distractions, but our staff have been staying in touch through Slack. 

Caroline is working from home in Los Angeles and Austin is finishing his studies online at the University of Colorado in Boulder. He is, like millions of seniors, deeply disappointed that graduation ceremonies have been canceled.

I miss our meetings, dinners, and travels and hope that we can soon be back to gathering in person — my Common Good friends are precious to me. Meanwhile, please stay safe and well.”

Secretary Jeh Johnson Pens Op-Ed for Washington Post

The Common Good is very proud of the work our Honorary Advisory Board members do and insight they provide. Recently, TCG Honorary Advisory Board member Jeh Johnson, former Secretary of Homeland Security, penned an op-ed for the Washington Post on immigration policy - "Trump-era politics are drowning out consensus on immigration. It’s time for some straight talk". Drawing upon his three years of experience overseeing border security and immigration enforcement, Johnson provides invaluable guidance to resolving current immigration issues with compassion while protecting our national security:

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Americans are and should be outraged at reports of migrants detained in dirty, overcrowded conditions near the Southern border. This is not how the United States should endeavor to treat people desperate for a better life. Meanwhile, highly offensive social media conversations that reportedly occurred among Border Patrol personnel are unforgivable but are at odds with my own observations of Border Patrol agents, who go above and beyond the call of duty to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants found tired and hungry on our Southern border.

It’s time for some straight talk on immigration...To govern in the immigration space and accomplish meaningful change requires compromise across Democratic and Republican lines. Very few solutions are black or white. Polls reflect that most Americans want to see two basic things when it comes to immigration: that we are fair and compassionate to those immigrants who have become honest and integrated members of our society (most notably the “dreamers”) and that we secure our borders...

As someone who for three years owned the difficult issue of immigration generally and enforcing border security specifically, I know these hard lessons:

First, high volumes of illegal immigration on our Southern border (and the tragic overcrowding at holding centers that follows) cannot be truly solved unless we make the long-term investment to reduce poverty and violence in Central America…

Second, we cannot…publicly embrace a policy to not deport those who enter or remain in this country illegally unless they commit a crime. This is tantamount to a public declaration…that our borders are effectively open to all; this will increase the recent levels of monthly apprehensions at our Southern border…by multiples. For the same reason, we cannot formally decriminalize unauthorized entry into this country, though first-time illegal border crossers are in fact rarely prosecuted for that misdemeanor…

Third, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has attracted criticism from the left for accepting last week a more moderate version of legislation to provide humanitarian aid to migrants at the border…Give her a break. Those who govern in a democracy know that progress requires compromise, and the speaker made the obvious calculation that it was more important to deliver prompt help to those facing inhumane conditions on the border than it was to delay and hold out for everything House Democrats wanted.

All this comes amid a larger alarming trend in today’s politics, on both sides of the aisle. To win support from a vocal and committed segment of a major party’s base — and simply for the sake of a good applause line — candidates for office now espouse extreme policy proposals that are unworkable and have no hope of winning the broad support of Congress and the people they represent.

As a child of the 1960s, I’m as idealistic as anyone. As someone who has held public office and took that responsibility seriously, I also know to be realistic. Those who aspire to public office should not espouse campaign promises that have no prospect for success — this is a disservice to our democracy and assumes voters are fools.

Here is a radical proposal: a presidential candidate who is willing to educate, enlighten and tell voters the hard truths. This trait has all but evaporated in U.S. politics, but it is the single best job qualification for those who aspire to lead. I’m a Democrat, and whoever among the current Democratic field of candidates demonstrates this profile in courage will earn my vote.”

To read Johnson's op-ed in full, click here.

Nouriel Roubini's Take on China-US Trade War

Nouriel Roubini, the renowned economist who predicted the housing bubble in 2008, TCG past speaker and Member of the Honorary Advisory Board , was recently featured across several media platforms for his economic expertise. The co-founder and chairman of Roubini Global Economics is known for his bearish outlook, often predicting pessimistic outcomes. He has, as a result, engendered the nickname “Mr. Doom”. 

Roubini’s take on the current trade war between China and the United States has elicited a lot of attention, receiving features on news networks such as CNBC, BBC, and News18. He believes that the trade war between the United States and China will lead to “de-globalization” and, as it is unlikely to be resolved in the near future, may lead to a global recession. He fears that “We’ll have to redo the global tech supply chain” as a result of this de-globalization. He points to the decrease of CapEx, or capital expenditures, as evidence of the impending recession because, “once the capex is down, then the industrial production is down and the employment is down, and you have the beginning of a global recession that starts in tech, then in manufacturing, then in industry and then goes to services.”

Roubini also gained attention for his qualms with BitCoin, asserting that the currency is not decentralized or secure enough and is destined to fail. He is not supportive of any crypto currencies and is quite open about this fact, engaging in public debate with Arthur Hayes, CEO of BitMex, a crypto currency. 

Though Roubini’s outlook may seem negative, it is important to listen to experts such as him on the topic in order to be prepared for the worst case scenario. With such success in predicting economic trends in the past, it seems prudent to take Roubini’s projections seriously. 

Click here to read the full CNBC article on Roubini.

Author: Lily Kaye [TCG Intern]

Steven Brill Interviewed in Politico

The Common Good is very proud of the work our Honorary Advisory Board members do and insight they provide. Recently, TCG Honorary Advisory Board member Steven Brill, lawyer and journalist-entrepreneur who The American Lawyer magazine and Court TV, was featured in Politico Magazine for his expertise as a veteran journalist who covered President Clinton’s impeachment trial. They interviewed him for their report “Trump's House allies lie in wait for Mueller”, which explores how Special Counsel Robert Mueller Congressional testimony may impact the current conversations around impeachment. It is important to hear from experts like Brill to better understand our contemporary political issues and outcomes:

“

Ironically, the thing that might hurt the president the most is the tea party people who will ask Mueller probably the most hostile questions,” said Steven Brill, a veteran journalist who covered Clinton’s impeachment and later founded the cable channel Court TV. “It seems to me the most likely drama is they’re going to step in it by asking some hostile questions not based in anything.

To read the full report, click here.

Joseph Fichera - Expert on Securitization

Joseph Fichera, CEO of Saber Partners and long time The Common Good member who recently joined the TCG Advisory Board, was featured in the news after his work on creating securitization-enabling legislation to make more retirements more economically viable. Utility Dive recently covered his efforts in their report “Securitization fever: Renewables advocates seize Wall Street's innovative way to end coal” and utilized Mr. Fichera’s expertise on the matter:

“

The securitization lowdown

Securitization is an option in 24 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico, and there are more ongoing initiatives, according to Saber Partners CEO Joseph Fichera. It has been used in 65 IOU transactions involving $50.9 billion in bonds, said Fichera.

While it hasn't been used yet for a coal plant closure, securitization has been used to smooth deregulation, reduce renewable and distributed generation costs, defer utility debt and finance pollution control upgrades, nuclear plant losses and storm recovery, Fichera said. A bill passed March 21 in New Mexico designates it for use in shuttering PNM's San Juan Generating Station […]

Enabling legislation

State legislation authorizing the use of securitization is "essential," Fichera said. It should make regulators responsible for customers and require the lowest cost bonds. It should also make the charge added to each customer's bill to pay bondholders, along with the commission's authorizing order and the state's non-interference pledge "irrevocable" […]

"We need to be concerned that securitization won't be done right," Saber's Fichera said. But it is an important option "if done right" and "it is better to have the option and not need it than to need it and not have it."

Mr. Fichera continues to champion doing good, a core TCG value, and we greatly commend his work at pushing for securitization and bettering our nation with his hard work.

To read the full report click here.

Kay Koplovitz - Founder of USA Network Provides Insight for CNBC

Kay Koplovitz, founder of USA Network, chairman of Springboard Enterprises, and member of The Common Good Honorary Advisory Board, recently appeared on CNBC to discuss the entertainment industry’s rapid evolution over the past decade towards a market that is increasingly favorable to companies with a direct-to-consumer business model. As more and more companies compete to make this transition, the key question for investors has necessarily become, what company will stand out to dominate the market long-term? The answer, according to Koplovitz, is Netflix.

In the discussion she had on CNBC’s Squawk Alley with former TiVo CEO Tom Rogers on January 18, 2019, Koplovitz confidently asserted that Netflix is “way ahead of the competition.” Koplovitz pointed out that, at the time of the discussion, Netflix had over 140 million direct-to-consumer subscribers around the world, and was estimated to grow to 200 million by the end of 2020. For comparison, HBO has 134 million total subscribers, but only five million subscribers for their direct-to-consumer service, HBO GO. So, although they have found success with their traditional subscription-based service, their direct-to-consumer service cannot rival what Netflix has achieved, and that’s what will matter in the long run.

Traditional media companies like Disney, Comcast, AT&T (owner of Time Warner Cable), and NBC Universal are all trying to adapt to the new market with direct-to-consumer services of their own, but Koplovitz explained why none of them are capable of rivaling Netflix’s success. Even though some believe that Disney has the potential to offer a service to rival Netflix, in reality, it faces the same crippling limitations as the other traditional media companies. When traditional media companies attempt to develop their own direct-to-consumer services, their growth faces serious constraints because they have to simultaneously manage the decline of their traditional business, a problem Netflix doesn’t have.

The discussion participants brought up that NBC Universal is planning to launch a new advertiser-based program, but they agreed that this model is also incapable of delivering the amount and quality of information about its users that a subscription-based system can. Additionally, the appeal of advertiser-based models to consumers is declining because of the growth and emergence of more convenient subscription-based competitors.

Koplovitz was confident that Netflix is in an ideal position to continue dominating the media entertainment industry, and the fierce competitors of the past no longer pose a threat to Netflix’s future prosperity. View the full discussion here.

Koplovitz also returned to CNBC on May 9, 2019 where she joined Squawk on the Street to revisit Disney's plans to launch a direct-to-consumer streaming service. Although the consensus was still that Disney’s new platform, Disney+, would not be able to match the success of Netflix any time soon, by acquiring the rights to popular franchises and investing millions in new original content, Koplovitz expected it could still become a notable competitor in the market. However, she remained skeptical about Disney+’s potential to maintain a strong and consistent subscriber base like Netflix does. Koplovitz also discussed Roku’s astounding recent performance, with their stock up one hundred and eighteen percent in the past twelve months. All of these recent developments supported the groups conclusion, that the growing direct-to-consumer market still had room for many more winners, both big and small.

To see the full discussion, click here.

Author: Alex Janowicz [TCG Intern]