Eoin Treacy's view

Here is a link to the full report and here is a section from it: 

While we have trepidations about what the coming months and quarters may have in store, for the long-term, we remain in the ‘darkest before dawn’ camp. We have been trained not to underestimate America’s global advantages, her spirit and optimism…and ability to rapidly innovate and help make the world a better place.

What if?

What if Covid-19 serves as a common enemy that unites and serves as a forcing function to:

1) Modernize and improve government / healthcare / education driving lower cost and more efficiency 2) Improve coordination between government and business for the good of citizens 3) Help people find jobs (and training) best suited to their skills and lifestyles 4) Promote more considered consumption 5) Get back to basics including staying closer to home 6) Bolster family connectedness / seriousness of purpose / community / faith?

 None of what we are going through is comfortable, or fair. And while things will likely get worse before they get better, has America, perhaps, just gotten the wake-up call it needed to get to a better place?

Let’s hope so, and let’s find the best ways to get to the other side as quickly and thoughtfully as possible.

We close with a recent observation from one of the more talented entrepreneurs / business builders of her generation, ‘We entered this time at business highs, but social lows and deeply fragmented as a society. And yet, Covid-19 does not discriminate, and its response requires complete unity – public, private, neighbors, employees, healthcare workers, strangers...What if we exit as a more united people and world?’

This rise of populism has made this a more likely scenario than it was following the financial crisis. Whatever the economic medicine, the health and wellbeing of consumers is likely to be at the centre rather than the periphery of the solution. The alternative would be revolution.