Coronavirus and China

Sarah, Steve, Jonah, and David discuss China’s role in the coronavirus outbreak, how governors are ...

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Sarah, Steve, Jonah, and David discuss China’s role in the coronavirus outbreak, how governors are navigating this crisis, and the impact of the president’s daily briefings.

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  1. Bruce Wing

    I find myself quasi-defending a man that I don't like and for whom I did not vote. Here goes...

    According to The New Yorker, the ball was already in play to create and implement tests were already underway when the restrictions on flights from China were implemented. Therefore, it is absolutely incorrect to say that Trump was not, by analogy, "moving troops to the front."

    The problem is that the CDC dropped the ball....and the administration was too supportive of the CDC for too long.... before it went looking for other options.

    I completely agree with the critiques of the overly-positive conferences held by Trump.

    That critique needs to be placed into context, however. SARs, MERs, and Ebola had been scares too...that were not impactful on the US and were impactful on Asia. Therefore, it is understandable at some level (Trump was too positive... but you can reasonably understand the effort to stay positive).

    I also believe it is wrong to compare US performance to South Korea. The latter's citizens had experienced pandemics and wore masks. The former's citizens neither had the experience nor wore (or had) the masks. That reasonably creates a massive difference in outcomes. The better comparison is between the US and Europe.

    I don't see any evidence that the US performed more poorly than anyone in Europe except Germany. And Germany wins because of testing....that was institutionally decentralized. And the US lost because it is institutionally centralized relative to testing (CDC)....and thus suffered from a concentrated execution failure.

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    Kevin Johnson

    Great stuff. Especially liked Sarah’s question and Jonah’s answer on China. While it remains in our interest to trade with China long-term and it is vital to retain sources of medical supplies and other key items now...things can’t return to where they were. I’m a staunch free trader and like Jonah’s point that it is too soon to dismiss the idea that economic growth and emerging middle class may help force China to liberalize more broadly. Still, China’s actions here will make folks across the political spectrum demand a tougher line. “China basher” won’t work quite so well as an insult going forward. Not yet time for a reckoning, but that time will come, I think.

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    BrandonAlleman

    Jonah's hypothetical about news anchors self immolating if Obama talked to a reporter like DT did to Alcinder reminded me of the time Glen Beck poured gasoline on his guest.

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  4. Jaaron

    Ya'll need some outro music or something. The hard out keeps throwing me off. After Sarah says thanks for listening I just sit in my truck in silence like I'm waiting for one of those hidden tracks at the end of a CD. I have no closure.

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  5. Nathan Shiba

    I think David was being less than generous to the importance of the news conferences when he suggested that "reporters are watching them (the press conferences). All the while you can see them on different feeds and then use your own platforms to put out the information that was truly important . . .)

    First, I would prefer to watch the full press conferences and make my own decisions about Trump's words and how he says them, rather than having a reporter decide what information is "truly important." Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I don't trust Fox, CNN, or any news organization to tell me what's important. I can make up my own mind as to the value/lunacy of what Trump says/intuits/blurts.

    Yes, it's infuriating to hear Trump repeat over-and-over about how he closed the border with China early . . . really, really early . . . and powerfully. (That drinking game had to end for the sake of my liver and marriage.)

    However, a conscious decision not to cover Trump's opening remarks seems to presuppose that anything he says - and how he says it - is not worthy of people watching. I think that's a mistake. We can make our own judgement about the value or vacuousness of his comments.

    And to that point, this Never-Trumper was moved on Sunday by what I saw as a seriousness, a sense of sadness and resolve in the President that both my wife and I felt to our bones. Like Steve, we go into these press conferences hoping the President will rise to the occasion. More often than not, he disappoints. But not Sunday. His words and demeanor were what I think everyone would hope of any President.

    He's the President of the United States. Love it or hate it, what he says and thinks matters to my wife, son, me and tens-of-millions like us whose business has come to a screeching halt, whose retirement fund is now paying rent, and who is wondering if life will ever be the same. I can't imagine why it would be at this moment that news organizations would not want to present the President when he speaks.

    In the end I will find a way to watch the entire press conference. I just think it's a shame that some news organizations would not offer me that opportunity on their channel.

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    Kevin Durant?

    “President Trump, the person who is running a response to a pandemic that is ravaging the American economy and has cost 4,000 lives.....”

    Mike Pence is running the pandemic response.

    Maybe you think the President is the person who should be running it. Fair enough. He isn’t. He’s tweeting and eating hamburgers.

    I would prefer President Pence as well. It wouldn’t make a difference and we are seeing that now.

    Obsession with Trump’s deficiencies as a figurehead has blinded people to the actual mechanics of every aspect of government.

    “Trump should have ramped up testing in January.”

    Okay good idea. How does that actually work? So Trump, a realtor, calls the CDC FDA etc and tells them to do a good job testing and then what?

    “Oh thanks for calling Mr President, we hadn’t considered testing before. Yes we will do a good job. Before you hang up Mr President, can you please give us ideas for how to do that? We need you to give us plans for testing and also, we just sit here waiting for you to tell us to Control and Prevent Disease even though that’s our name. We don’t actually do it unless you call.”

    The FBI didn’t whiff on the hijackers because Bush wore cowboy boots

    The CDC didn’t whiff on testing because Trump is orange

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    Kevin Durant?

    “Well, first of all, the crisis is much worse in New York, so it gives Cuomo much more a sense of being the man of the hour.”

    A comment that followed 26 minutes of roasting Trump because his travel restrictions in January didn’t also ban US citizens and permanent residents from returning to the country

    I mean...

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    Rev Snow

    Regarding raw totals vs. per-capita figures: how about per-state figures? Each US state is more comparable to most world nations.

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    Phil H

    Great podcast! One comment on Trump's press conferences: I much prefer Ohio Governor Mike DeWine's daily 2PM (EDT) conferences, televised live in Ohio and on the internet. They are a model of information as well as pep talks about social distancing, answering press questions and the like. Governor DeWine's health director, Dr. Amy Acton is a jewel in her unflappable demeanor and has become a local media star. Worth catching (google Ohio TV stations, many of them carry it on their websites) if you get a chance.

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  10. David Hegarty

    Great job; I used an excerpt from this podcast with my 9th grade history class this morning (via Zoom) as I am currently teaching all about China.

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