Thinking Globally, Acting Locally, The Future Responds Recap

Featured Speakers:

• Matrice Ellis-Kirk, Managing Director, RSR Partners – Click Here for Bio
• Robert S. Kaplan, President & CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas – Click Here for Bio
• Tom Luce, Founder & Chairman, Texas 2036 – Click Here for Bio

Moderated by: Tony Fleo, CEO, Social Venture Partners Dallas – Click Here for Bio

Texas 2036

• Created to bring guidance to businesses, communities, etc.
• Texas growth has been unequal; there are many parts of the state that have not experienced the growth that urban areas have
• The goal is to have a coalition and break the political politicization by mankind data-informed decisions
• COVID-19 makes mission even more important
  • Need to address short term, but also addressing long term prevents and mitigates against future disasters
• “Crisis doesn’t build character; it reveals them”

Role of Federal Reserve Bank Currently

• 12 reserve banks in the US, with big research dept focusing on local, national and global economy
• Try to be highly involved in the local economy (local meaning Texas-wide and bordering states)
• FRB is a lender, not a grantor

Guiding Questions for Moving Forward

• How do we respond to the forthcoming stresses placed on the healthcare system?
  • The uninsured pool will expand as employer-sponsored healthcare dwindles due to unemployment; COBRA is an option but is often inaccessible due to cost
  • Postponing of vital, preventative health care appointments
• How are we going to implement Telehealth into our healthcare system?
• How are we going to implement digital education?
  • Subsequently, how do we address the digital divide?

The Consumer in the Age of COVID-19

• A bright spot of our economic system was the consumer
  • Consumer spending was 70% of GDP
  • pre-COVID-19 we were already expressing concern about the growth
• Now, unemployment is going to hit 20% and consumer (the pillar of GDP) is heavily affected
• Most of 2021 will be spent trying to grind down unemployment
  • Can’t afford to leave parts of the population behind, otherwise the economy will grow slowly
• Consumer demand doesn’t necessarily come just from opening up the economy. It comes from feeling safe, having job security, etc.
• How do we build a confidence level across the population that can provide the boost in the economy we need?

Capitalism and COVID-19

• Does capitalism still work?
  • “Capitalism is going to need to work”- Robert Kaplan
• We’ve got a situation where whatever the government says/does, people will respond with how safe they feel
  • Capitalism means people are free to do what they want
• Capitalism is going to work well: it’s going to break the businesses that don’t adapt to the changing realities and encourage new ones
• Relative confidence that businesses will adapt; hesitations towards whether the workforce will adapt as easily or efficiently
• Regionally, we’ve got to be in an area where we project the demands of the workforce

Who should be a part of future-oriented conversations?

• Older people are part of these conversations because they are the ones that turn out to vote
• The challenge of 20-30s is getting them to think about the future
• Experience of older people allows for dedication towards strategic planning and experiences to draw from
• However, there is no correlation with thinking of the future and age
• Leadership is future-oriented
  • To recover, it is going to take focused efforts and leadership in private and public sectors, including nonprofits serving hard-to-reach areas

How can we have the most impact?

• Find local nonprofit or emerging nonprofits, particularly in healthcare or education or those serving at-risk populations
  • Donate and serve on boards
• Entrepreneurialism and starting nonprofits play an important part in the social sector and revitalization
• Think about where the “creative destruction” (Tom Luce) is taking place and how we can address that

What does success look like?

• With the reopening, success looks like a slight decline of cases (maybe at times a slight increase). We’re at a point where we have to reopen
• What failure is going to look like is if we have a dramatic spike in cases