Coronavirus Has Us Wondering Who’s in Charge Here

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Today’s Agenda

Trump doesn’t have total authority over states, which are going their own way … for better or worse. Quarantine’s a mixed bag even for companies selling media or alcohol. Don’t kill the Postal Service.

States’ Rights and Wrongs

Some day in, say, 2023, when California is an independent nation and New Yorkers are citizens of the Free Republic of Cuomostan, we might look back at this pandemic as the moment when the whole “United States” thing went kablooey.

OK, probably not. But this is certainly a time to consider the tensile strength of the national fabric, with 50 different states mostly just doing their own thing on the pandemic. President Donald Trump insists he has “total” authority over all, despite contrary evidence and his own refusal to coordinate action so far. Oh, and the Constitution. Sure, predecessors such as FDR have taken the reins of national functions during crises, but only in concert with Congress, the judicial system and others to lay the groundwork and check that power, writes Jonathan Bernstein. That’s how the system was designed, because the founders had this weird thing about total authority being vested in one person.

The kind of team-building skills and foresight needed to become the next FDR aren’t in this particular president’s toolkit, notes Ramesh Ponnuru. In fact, he hasn’t even managed to do replacement-level presidenting with the powers he does have: He doesn’t effectively run the bureaucracy, cut deals, push legislation or influence people. He’s got complaining on Twitter on lock, of course, but even Republicans generally ignore him.

Meanwhile, absent strong federal leadership, states are giving new meaning to the phrase “laboratories of democracy,” writes Noah Smith. Governors are planning their own pandemic reopenings, some wisely and others not so much. Some, including California’s Gavin Newsom, New York’s Andrew Cuomo, Ohio’s Mike DeWine and Washington’s Jay Inslee, have handled the crisis better than Trump and their less-aggressive counterparts. Now they can test escape routes from this nightmare.

A coordinated federal pandemic plan would be preferable, so coronavirus-skeptical governors don’t put their citizens and neighbors at risk, writes Max Nisen. In the meantime, we seem to be entering a new phase of federalism, one in which states increasingly go their own ways and butt heads, writes Tyler Cowen. It may not lead to the Free Republic of Cuomostan, but it could be a throwback to the pre-constitutional days of the Articles of Confederation.

Further Economic-Reopening Reading:

Basing reopening plans on virus data is dicey because the current tallies are so badly flawed. — Cathy O’Neil But we’ll have to reopen even without adequate data because people just won’t do this for 18 months. — Michael R. Strain

Things Are Tough All Over: Corporate Edition

You’d think this would be a boom time for companies catering to a nation desperately craving distraction. But they’ve got problems, too. The media industry, for example, needs a steady flow of new content, which has dried up in the pandemic, along with amusement-park attendance and other lucrative business lines, writes Tara Lachapelle. Meanwhile, with unemployment possibly at 20%, people aren’t exactly rushing to pay for new streaming services, much less existing cable bills.

Roku Inc., which makes little boxes that funnel content to people, relies on ad revenue that is being slashed in the crisis, writes Tae Kim.

We may be drinking more at home to kill the time and the pain, but we’re drinking cheaper beer than when we go out with friends, notes Andrea Felsted. This is a problem for such brewers as Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Even the roaring success of Netflix Inc. is not a great sign for the future, writes John Authers: It makes sense if we’re all going to be inside for months to come, but in that case maybe the stock market shouldn’t be quite so exuberant.

And growing labor unrest at quarantine overlord Amazon.com Inc. is a hint the economic recovery could be profitless, as companies have to maintain a higher-paid staff but accept lower revenue, writes Conor Sen.