Ian Bremmer: US Coronavirus Response - Spin vs Reality | Politics of Reopening to Come | GZERO Media

In the US, watching the White House press conference, and cable news afterwards, a shit show. It's made for television, political theater and drama. But actual policies from the United States have been reasonably coordinated. On the finance side, Fed Chief Jay Powell has been effective and early in getting rates down, providing credit lines where necessary. Fiscal stimulus has been fast, bipartisan. There'll be more for small businesses and NGOs. The governors engaged in the shutdowns, didn't do so politically. The big problem was health care. The US didn't have testing or adequate health care materials. When the World Health Organization offered a test, the Americans didn't use it. The Americans usually use local CDC-produced tests. When it was clear that they weren't working, they could have gone to the W.H.O. tests, like the Germans; we didn't. That hurt and we were late in coordinating and stockpiling critical health care material. People were worried that health care systems weren't going to work. But ultimately, equipment, masks got to health care workers. We didn't see large numbers of health care workers getting sick and dying like in Northern Italy. Never saw triaging of large numbers of people that needed critical care. It's going to get more political. First, even though health care systems have surged, we don't have adequate testing, quarantines working so we can reopen economies. Pressure to reopen economies is gonna be massive because people are suffering. That would be easier to deal with if you had contact tracing and tests seen early stage in Germany or South Korea. Some states will have tests running, others not. Coordinated locally, not nationally. And as they open, some states will need to close again. People will go back to the hospital. That's already started in Kentucky. Is that going to slow them down? I hope it does. This being done state by state is going to prove problematic as the US economy starts reopening. Epidemiologists expect second outbreaks this summer or fall, winter. On the fiscal side: What about stimulus? Getting companies, the economy going again? They'll be much more politicized as the election is getting closer. Either there's massive waste, or don't get adequate cash where most needed. That's going to limit the ability of the American economy to rebound. Similar problems in Europe. No willingness of Europeans as a whole to provide redistribution of wealth required to get the Italians, the Spaniards, the Portuguese growing again. The Germans are running very well domestically, the Danes, the Netherlands. You don't see that in the south, Eastern Europe. The potential of existential crisis for the Eurozone is real. Finally, China. One, responsible for the initial cover up; two, once they focused, did an extraordinary job, empowered by technology, surveillance on the ground, quarantine, prevent significant additional outbreaks. No, I don't trust their numbers, but I do trust that their economy is up to speed again - the Americans and Europeans will have a much harder time. Internationally, the Chinese are playing much less of a leadership role. They made big press in initially sending healthcare equipment, medical equipment and personnel to the Europeans and other countries. Relatively small, no big follow through, mostly press. Not close to what China is capable of doing, what these countries need. That is causing blowback. We're seeing it from German media, French, UK, and especially from African countries; Africans have been treated so badly on the ground. I've heard from heads of international financial institutions that China is nowhere close to offering money and support that these countries desperately need. The Americans and Europeans are focused on their own crises, massively expensive. Willingness to provide international aid will be constrained. The Chinese are less constrained. Second largest economy in the world, not providing leadership, very little cash they're willing to put up. The developing world is on the back foot in 3, 6 months. The Chinese economy is doing better. Their growth will look a lot better than the Americans, Europeans. They will be gaining on the Americans. In terms of providing international leadership, I don't see the Chinese playing much of a role. Subscribe to GZERO on YouTube: http://bit.ly/2TxCVnY For more GZERO news and videos: https://www.gzeromedia.com/ Subscribe to the GZERO podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Like GZERO on Facebook:   / gzeromedia   Follow GZERO on Twitter:   / gzeromedia   Follow GZERO on LinkedIn:   / 18385722   GZERO Media is a multimedia publisher providing news, insights and commentary on the events shaping our world. Our properties include GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, our newsletter Signal, Puppet Regime, the GZERO World Podcast, In 60 Seconds and GZEROMedia.com