00:00 Speaker A
We just had a float with a headline where uh credit card companies will be capped at 10% annual interest and it seems like a total non-starter to people who understand the mechanics. It had to go through Congress and it’s very unlikely that it will, but it generated a lot of headlines, and it generated an immediate response from Jamie Diamond and some other prominent uh figures who have really spoken out about this particular issue, but have been close to the president on other issues. So, how do you think that’s handled and how do you see the general playbook moving from previous administrations over the uh years?
00:54 Speaker B
So, I think there are some things going on. So the playbook with this administration has nothing to do with the playbook with any previous administration, right? There’s no precedent in modern American history where if you alienate the president in any way shape or form, he can attack you or take away government contracts from you or threaten to put you in jail, all of which he’s done, you know, with a lot of people at this point.
01:21 Speaker B
Therefore, there is no way to compare it with anyone else. This is how companies react in Turkey or Russia or similar countries. No, you know, no American executive has any experience dealing with this with a joint president of the United States.
01:39 Speaker B
I think you’re seeing some things that cause this kind of change, right? First, the president’s steadily declining popularity ratings are making CEOs feel a little more free and a little more pressured to speak up. That’s the first. The second is, as President Sort II sees those assessments and tries to respond to them that is still the number one issue that Americans seem to be most motivated by, which is the order of rising costs. The way he does that is by arguing for direct intervention in the market, or at least direct intervention in the market. And CEOs hate it when the government directly intervenes in the market, especially in ways that can limit their profits. And so naturally they will push back on that.
02:22 Speaker B
Um, I think, like the question we’re really looking at, since he’s been re-elected for a second term, you’ve seen the efforts of CEOs and business leaders in general, some of them like this stuff, some of them are enthusiastic, up to and including the shootings in Minnesota, you’ve seen people on Twitter have this issue. But most of them, I think, look at the chaos, look at the damage done to American relations around the world, look at the damage done to the economy by policies like tariffs, and say, I can try and figure it out. But the question is at what point is chaos going to cease to be a cost of doing business and when is it going to become a direct threat to the system on which they depend more than anyone else for their survival.
03:13 Speaker B
And I think that in the last few weeks with Greenland, um, with, you know, what’s going on in Minnesota, you know, there’s a variety of things that are just phenomenal, a word that’s been overused now. Um, you’re seeing the CEO start to realize that chaos is no longer a cost of doing business. Chaos is threatening the foundations of American peace and prosperity, and the American corporate elite has not benefited much from that peace and prosperity.
