34 APRIL 6, 2020 |^ ADWEEK
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changes to ADWEEK, PO Box 15, Congers, NY 10920-0015; [email protected]. Copyright 2020 ADWEEK, LLC. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For reprints, please call The YGS Group (800) 290-5460, email [email protected].On March 22, White House
adviser Peter Navarro faced
the press and announced that
the country has entered “the
greatest mobilization in the
industrial base since World
War II.” He was referring to
the battery of manufacturing
firms that have suspended
their usual operations to
produce badly needed
supplies to battle COVID-19.
To name a few: Cosmetics
giant L’Oréal is mixing up
hand sanitizer, GM is making
ventilators, and Honeywell
has retooled its propulsion-
engine plant to make N95
face masks. As Navarro’s
comment inferred, the
country’s had practice with
this routine. In 1942, FDR
used the Second War Powers
Act to compel consumer-
goods manufacturers to
make war materiel, which
saw companies like Buick
assembling aircraft engines,
as shown in the photo here.
The difference this time is
that President Trump has
not forced companies’ hands
as the Defense Production
Act would allow him to do.
Instead, he prefers to let the
free market do its thing—
though the laissez-faire
policy has led to bidding wars
for much-needed supplies,
something that would have
been unfathomable during
WWII. —Robert Klara1942
Delivering
The Goods