Bloomberg Businessweek May 4, 2020
⑤ Digitized health care
How is it possible that in 2020 the
flow of health-care information has
yet to become seamless and universal?
How is this crucial sector still operating
as if it were the 19th century? Prior gov-
ernment attempts to address this issue have been
too modest. Instead, combine the government’s
efforts with the health-care initiative created by
Warren Buffett, Jamie Dimon, and Jeff Bezos—and
create a bold, comprehensive experiment.
⑥ Asteroid mining
This isn’t merely something out of
science fiction. Serious technolo-
gists believe we could launch a fleet
unmanned ships to mine valuableminerals.I understand that some want to go to
Mars. I say aim farther, all the way to the asteroid
belt, with its vast riches of industrial metals, nickel,
cobalt, and likely gold and platinum.
In all of those examples, the journey is the
reward. Landing a man on the moon was
a triumph of ingenuity, but the economic
benefits came from the technology that the
Apollo program developed. Integrated cir-
cuits, fireproof materials, water purifica-
tion, freeze-dried food, polymer fabrics,
cordless tools—the list is so long that we
take it for granted. We need to update
President Kennedy’s challenge, not for the
national glory, but for the society wide eco-
nomic benefits.
Some will say what I’m arguing for here
would be a departure from 21st century
U.S. political and economic realities. But as
entrepreneur and author Bhu Srinivasan
points out in Americana: A 400-Year History
of American Capitalism, Uncle Sam has suc-
cessfully partnered with the private sector
throughout our history, creating exclu-
sive monopolies through patent protec-
tions and municipal bonds, among many
other innovations. Or, to quote the venture
capitalist William Janeway, the U.S. innova-
tion economy has always been “sponsored
by the state and funded by speculation.”
It sometimes takes a crisis to get past the
usual partisan wrangling in Congress. Right
now there’s a rare willingness to try more
short-term stimulus. But the lesson of the
past two centuries is that to benefit the U.S.
population, the government needs to enact
a long-lasting fiscal stimulus—a new NASA,
not just an extra few hundred dollars to get
us through the next few months.
Grover Norquist once said his goal for
government was “to get it down to the size
where we can drown it in the bathtub.” It’s a
great punchline, right up until you need the
government to fight the Nazis—or to control
a global pandemic that threatens to kill mil-
lions and destroy the economy.
Time will tell if this White House and
Congress are up to this enormous task. The
public gets to grade the response and rescue
plan in about six months—on Nov. 3.This is no time for thinking
small. America, confronted with
the biggest crises, has always
steppedup.We faceyetanother
historic cri again it is
timefor
Americato
of
43
BarryRitholtzis a Bloomberg Opinioncolumnistandtheauthor
ofBailoutNation:HowGreedandEasyMoneyCorruptedWall
StreetandShooktheWorldEconomy.Heisthefounderof
Ritholtz Wealth Management.go ig.