America's self-inflicted wound

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May 03, 2022 View in browser   By Ryan Heath Check out the weekly Global Insider podcast.| Follow Ryan on Twitter. Fresh snow blankets the mountains behind the downtown L.A. skyline. | David McNew/Getty Images Good morning from Beverly Hills! Happening Today NO ON ROE: Dinner and breakfast chat on the West Coast mirrors the eastern seaboard: all about the POLITICO exclusive on the Supreme Court draft opinion to ditch U.S. federal abortion rights, in an initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito. The opinion repudiates the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision and argues that the Court intends to "return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives." CNN called it "one of the biggest scoops in American journalism history," with clearly life-altering consequences for millions of women and their families. The U.S. is one of 65 countries (around 1 in 3) that have legalized or decriminalized abortion on request. EMBARGO: As of press time, the EU executive was locked in discussion, but expected to approve a plan to phase out Russian oil as part of a sixth latest round of sanctions.   INTRODUCING DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED:  Technology is always evolving, and our new tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today.     MILKEN GLOBAL CONFERENCE POSTCARD Full events details | 120 sessions will be livestreamed | Find missed sessions here CONFERENCE PRO TIPS:   — Get a professional LinkedIn headshot taken next to the main elevator bank. — If you get to Circa55 poolside by around 9.30 a.m., you'll be able to snag a table for as long as you need it (though the official policy is for 90 minutes only). INTERVIEW — GARY COHN, IBM VICE CHAIR What's the biggest economic issue today in America? "It's hard to figure out what our economic growth strategy is, because I don't understand how our energy policy, our climate policy and our industrial policy intersect. How is anyone — whether it be Washington or in the corporate world — supposed to make a decision, not understanding how they work together?" Can we avoid energy dependencies and go green at the same time? "We're going to have to have some hydrocarbon policy for some period of time. There's no sign in sight that jets are gonna fly on anything but jet fuel for a long period of time." Skills not degrees: "Today, we (Americans) post all these job ads, and the first question is: Where'd you go to school? We've got to change the social norm in this country: to skills not degrees. If you know how to program, you know how to program." "In many respects, it doesn't matter what degree you have. I think about my days back at Goldman Sachs: How many liberal arts majors did we hire? And we made them bankers! The kids that came out of business schools, sometimes we had to deprogram them." America's student debt culture is a self-inflicted wound: "I look at kids that came out of high school and got into a trade, or go learn how to code, and they don't build up any college debt. By the time they are 25 they might be earning 100 grand a year. With no debt. They might have bought a house. But if you've got so much student debt, you can't buy a house: You're gonna rent for the next 10 years. It's a self-inflicted wound what we do as a culture." Chip shortages: "We clearly learned in Covid about supply chain vulnerability. You know, if heaven forbid, anything happened in Taiwan," Cohn said, trailing off … "the shortage is gonna continue for a long time: We're just putting more chips into everything." Are we going to get semiconductor funding out of Congress? "The problem is the Senate basically passed a pretty clean-ish bill [and] the house put all these China things in it. And the Senate doesn't have any votes to spare. So the question is, will the House take the Senate Bill?" What's the best way to use federal chip funding? "We need the Albany nano complex model; it's also a little bit of what they're doing in Columbus, Ohio, with governments getting involved in providing facilities and land to build chip foundries. So, we're gonna have to marry government funding and government research. And I think we got to get the Japanese involved, the Australians, the Europeans." TUESDAY MILKEN PREVIEW WHERE TO JOIN GLOBAL INSIDER TODAY: Global Insider will be moderating a discussion on the future of global energy in the Wilshire Ballroom at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT, featuring Jennifer Haley, president and CEO, Kern Oil & Refining; Andrew Littlefair president and CEO, Clean Energy Fuels; Mark Nelson executive vice president, Chevron; Jon Pertchik CEO, TravelCenters of America; and Vinay Shandal managing director, Boston Consulting Group. On Global Insider's radar:  11.30 a.m. ET /  8.30 a.m. PT | Russia and Ukraine: What's Next 11.30 a.m. ET /  8.30 a.m. PT | The Power of LGBTQ+ Representation with Funny or Die's Henry Muñoz. The key question: "When is representation not enough, and where are action and investment still needed?"  1 p.m. ET / 10.00 a.m. PT | Real Estate Outlook: A Supply Crisis 5.30 p.m. ET /  2:30 p.m. PT | From K-Pop to K-Explosion: Lessons from Korea's Creative Economy 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT | Global Goes Local: Creating and Sustaining Communities and Commerce. This panel will dig into detail and not just macro theories. Oisin Hanrahan, CEO of Angi, told Global Insider he plans to probe panelists on the question: "Have we turned starter homes into a speculative asset?" MONDAY PANEL WRAP  What Milken Institute wants you to know: "We need to hear with different ears. We need to listen more, including to people we disagree with," Michael Klowden, CEO Milken Institute. Listening Project in action: Per John Gerzema, CEO of The Harris Poll, the Milken polling partner, told the Milken audience to get real: that they're far more optimistic than the general population. When asked about specific problems businesses face today, it's inflation (especially energy inflation) that is rated as the biggest problem. Supply chains are the problem experienced most broadly around the world, while labor shortages are viewed as the problem that will take the longest to solve. "Changing generational values" is now ranked equally with "regulatory uncertainty" as the biggest general challenge for businesses." NOTES FROM THE UNOFFICIAL CONFERENCE IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE Let's have water bottle refilling stations — instead of the endless Covid-era individual plastic bottles. Ryan Heath The conference venue is decidedly pedestrian-unfriendly. Conference-goers must walk on a four-lane road (no footpath at all) to enter the hotel if they aren't arriving by car. One member of Congress, after approaching from the wrong side of the hotel (before collecting their credentials), took an Uber for the two-block reroute after staff decided it was better safe than sorry. MILKEN ON-RECORD Infrastructure: "We have bad data — a couple of years old — and bad by its very nature. We are starting to move away from projects that are 'shovel ready' to projects that are 'shovel worthy.'" — Zach Conine, Nevada treasurer Polarization: "I have this theory … that America's natural state is polarization" and that "the exception was the 45 years of Cold War." — Chuck Todd, NBC Davos: "I'm not going, it's the first time I haven't gone in a long time. I don't know what crowd's gonna go. I would assume a lot of the crowd here is not going there." — Gary Cohn, IBM MILKEN OFF-RECORD  Rage With The Machine: Tiffany Haddish helped bring down the house performing Proud Mary and the crowd loved the impromptu set from Chris Tucker at the Milken late night music reception. Overheard: "Oh the mood is not Davos at all. This is definitely Cannes." Overheard: "You see these ads for newer companies today, and they're two-thirds about their sustainability policies, not their products. They don't even mention what they make sometimes!" 24/7 Milken: "Staying in the conference hotel creates a different vibe. A sense of camaraderie in the elevator." Missing: "There's a big New York crowd. You know what's missing? Locals." — Marina Schwabic, president, American Serbian Association for Prosperity DID YOU KNOW? Milken Institute is opening a Washington, D.C., landmark space. The Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream is set to open in 2023 — as a museum and programming space spread across three buildings, including the Riggs Bank building, near the White House and Treasury. GLOBAL RISKS AND TRENDS CHINA — BLINKEN TO REVEAL ADMINISTRATION'S LONG-DELAYED STRATEGY: More here. UNITED NATIONS — U.S. SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY: Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield will lay out U.S. priorities for May — watch from 12:45 p.m. ET. GUINEA — COUP LEADER PROPOSES 39-MONTH TRANSITION TO CIVILIAN RULE: Mamady Doumbouya, the head of Guinea's military junta which seized power in September, said in a weekend speech that he considered a transition period of 18 to 52 months (no rationale was given), and opted for a 39-month transitional period before a return to civilian rule. GLOBETROTTERS REALITY CHECK — FLYING NON-STOP FROM NYC TO SYDNEY WOULD BE HORRIBLE: As I read Monday, coverage of Qantas' announcement that it plans to fly non-stop from Sydney to London and to New York from 2025, using a new Airbus A350, I hesitated to write about it here. The offer is years away from hitting the market and the concept isn't even new: It was proven possible as far back as 2006 (when Tony Blair flew non-stop from London to Melbourne) and again in 2019 when Qantas did the Sydney to New York trip in just over 19 hours (but with no luggage on board). The idea is attractive because many people cite the arduous journey as their reason for not traveling Down Under. Why spend more time on a plane if you don't have to, right? Wrong. Having traveled from Europe or the U.S. to Australia 23 times, the key wisdom I have to share is that breaking the flight up makes the experience more bearable. The longer you stay on the plane in a single stretch, the worse it is for your body and sanity. Of course, a first class lie-flat bed and cabin washes a lot of pain away. But for the rest of us, these mega long-haul flights could be a false economy. Thanks to editor Ben Pauker and producer Hannah Farrow.    DON'T MISS CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO's new platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. CHECK OUT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE.     SUBSCRIBE to the POLITICO newsletter family: D.C. Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook | Paris Playbook| EU Confidential | D.C. Influence | EU Influence | London Influence | Digital Bridge | China Direct | Berlin Bulletin | Living Cities   Follow us on Twitter Ryan Heath @PoliticoRyan   Follow us

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