WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.397 nobody wants to talk about but I've started to talk about it's the 00:00:02.480 --> 00:00:07.997 intersection of DEI and and immigration that has really I think warped I think 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:11.357 our perceptions on high skilled immigration over the last 50 years um 00:00:11.440 --> 00:00:14.637 which basic and you and you see this by the way in like this you just you look 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:17.837 at like the foreign enrollment rates of the top universities which went from you 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:21.677 know like two or three or 4% 50 years ago to whatever 27 or 30 or 50 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:24.317 >> Columbia is over half right now >> 70% or whatever it is and so there's 00:00:24.400 --> 00:00:27.437 been this massive transformation in who gets educated um and then there's been 00:00:27.520 --> 00:00:30.477 this massive transformation of who gets admitted through de through affirmative 00:00:30.560 --> 00:00:34.717 action and then you know as we now know at DEI um and and again this goes 00:00:34.800 --> 00:00:38.157 straight to the political divide in the country which is if you're a family you 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:42.077 know if you if you're a family if you're parents of a kid where I grew up um and 00:00:42.160 --> 00:00:44.957 you've got a smart kid um and you think you're going to get them into you know a 00:00:45.040 --> 00:00:48.877 top university in this country like you are fooling yourself like there is no 00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:53.357 chance right um because they've got their well the top universities 00:00:53.440 --> 00:00:55.517 basically the top universities have basically an admissions program that 00:00:55.600 --> 00:00:59.277 looks like this it's like DEI for white people um which is the donors and all 00:00:59.360 --> 00:01:02.797 the fake sports, right? Um, and so lot of fake sports, 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:06.557 >> like I have a friend who got into Yale to play varsity croquet. Um, [laughter] 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:09.357 which let me just say is not a sport that we played a lot in rural Wisconsin. 00:01:09.440 --> 00:01:12.237 And then you've got, you know, DEI generally for for the other groups. And 00:01:12.320 --> 00:01:15.597 then you've got this you got this immigration influx. Um, and as a 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:19.437 consequence of that, like it is nearly impossible uh for somebody coming from 00:01:19.520 --> 00:01:22.637 like a Midwestern or rural background or southern background um to get into the 00:01:22.720 --> 00:01:26.397 US. By the way, this doesn't just affect white people. This also obviously now we 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:29.517 now see how it's affecting Jewish people. Um it it but it actually also 00:01:29.600 --> 00:01:33.357 affects African-Americans uh in a very interesting way which is actually uh 00:01:33.440 --> 00:01:36.717 both the universities and the corporate employers are literally this is true. 00:01:36.800 --> 00:01:39.517 They're literally they literally import Africans so that they don't have to hire 00:01:39.600 --> 00:01:43.677 African-Americans um because they they they they still count as black. Um there 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:45.757 was a great story the thing that woke me up to this there was a story in the New 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:47.597 York Times 20 years ago about Harvard. 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:50.477 This is a Harvard admits you know black students but which ones back when the 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:53.357 New York Times could talk about these things honestly. Um, and it quoted 00:01:53.440 --> 00:01:56.397 actually Henry Lewis Gates and Lonnie Guineer at the time uh at Harvard Law 00:01:56.480 --> 00:01:59.117 School basically observing that African-Americans were not benefiting 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:01.757 from affirmative affirmative action because Harvard had figured out that 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:04.237 they could import Nigerians. Um, right. 00:02:04.320 --> 00:02:06.557 And again, it's just like great, the Nigerians are great. They're very smart. 00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:07.997 They're very productive. It's fantastic. 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:10.157 You know, all other things being equal, you'd like to have as many of them in 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:13.117 your country, but like is that really why we're doing, you know, the set aside 00:02:13.200 --> 00:02:17.357 programs? Um and so like there is this really fundamental question which is 00:02:17.440 --> 00:02:20.717 like what level of untapped talent exists in this country that a 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:23.677 combination of DEI and immigration have basically cut out of the loop for the 00:02:23.760 --> 00:02:29.117 last 50 years. Um and how long can we have this you know story to everybody in 00:02:29.200 --> 00:02:31.757 the Midwest and the South that says you know sorry you're you know because of 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:35.357 historical oppression your kids are so >> this is this is the angry populism 00:02:35.440 --> 00:02:37.517 people are worried about that's affecting our politics. 00:02:37.600 --> 00:02:39.517 >> Yeah. This is what I've really come to this is what I've really come to 00:02:39.600 --> 00:02:42.157 appreciate from growing up in the one place and now being in the other place, 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:44.877 which is if you if you're if you're in the if you're in the center of the 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:47.197 country, you're just like, "Wow, these people really hate me. They really hate 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:51.837 my kids." Like they're really out to get me. Um and and like that that that's 00:02:51.920 --> 00:02:56.077 just such a toxic that's just such a toxic dynamic like that that's a very 00:02:56.160 --> 00:02:57.597 very bad thing for that to continue. 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:00.237 >> So I guess to finish on a more positive note, we have all these challenges 00:03:00.320 --> 00:03:03.757 you've outlined. No, it's fair. I think in order to be optimistic, you first 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:06.317 have to say what are the challenges and diagnose it and then say what are the 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:07.757 ways. >> Well, here's here's an optimistic thing 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:10.797 which is we have talent in this country that is like we have we have so many 00:03:10.880 --> 00:03:13.517 smart people in this country who are not being properly trained, properly 00:03:13.600 --> 00:03:16.717 educated and properly employed. Like we really genuinely do we have tons of 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:19.517 smart kids running around who have all kinds of potential who have been 00:03:19.600 --> 00:03:21.917 completely cut out of opportunity for the last 50 years. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:24.877 >> So so we're going to have this wave of productivity growth. It's going to be in 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:27.197 the real world with robotics. We're going to start to build hopefully if you 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:30.477 get the policies right and it's going to lift all these people up. What are the 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:33.437 bottlenecks or things in the way of doing that? There's we have the amazing 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:36.237 secretary of energy here. Energy is obviously a really key thing to get 00:03:36.320 --> 00:03:39.597 right. Uh there's obviously the chips, there's the critical minerals you 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:43.437 mentioned. Regulatory stuff is insane in this country. It needs to be fixed like 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:45.997 like what are the biggest ones you're focused on and how are we going to get 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:49.037 those to a place we need that ends up with the optimistic outcome? 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:52.717 >> So I say yes, those. [laughter] So I mean the good news on this is a lot 00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:54.877 of it's obvious, right? The minute you look at it, you're just like, well 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:57.357 obviously we have to do these things. If you talk to anybody built, you know, 00:03:57.440 --> 00:03:59.437 running businesses in any of these sectors, they'll they'll tell you right 00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:02.557 off the right off the bat the thing the things the things that need to happen. 00:04:02.640 --> 00:04:05.757 Um, and so I, you know, I think I think, you know, and, you know, the current 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:08.637 administration, I think, is pretty devoted to a lot of this. Um, you know, 00:04:08.720 --> 00:04:11.037 look, the other, I would just say the other positive thing that's happening, 00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:14.957 um, there's this new book out called Abundance, um, from uh, from Ezra Klein, 00:04:15.040 --> 00:04:18.237 who I would say I disagree with on approximately zero of everything. Um, 00:04:18.320 --> 00:04:19.917 but I think this book is really good. 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:22.957 Um, and I think he and his co-author, you know, outline, you know, they don't 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:25.197 necessarily have the policy prescriptions I would outline, but they, 00:04:25.280 --> 00:04:29.037 you know, they make this point of like, you know, liberals used to believe in 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:32.477 building things, right? Well, I mean, if you go all the way back, like communists 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:35.597 really believed in building things, right? Like all like Soviet iconography 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:38.797 100 years ago was all like rockets and skyscrapers and cars and motion and 00:04:38.880 --> 00:04:42.077 energy and it was all amazing and they built all these huge things. And then, 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:45.277 you know, liberals, you know, up through, I don't know, up through the up 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:48.637 until basically the 1970s, you know, really believed in really believed in 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:51.517 building things. they really believed in building the future. Um, and so Ezra and 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:54.317 and Derek Thompson are trying to recapture that. And there and there's a 00:04:54.400 --> 00:04:56.877 bunch of, by the way, there's a bunch of of of leaders of that party in 00:04:56.960 --> 00:04:59.837 Washington that are now, you know, pushing that quite hard. Um, and so may 00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:02.797 maybe, you know, although it seems hard to believe these days, but, you know, 00:05:02.880 --> 00:05:05.917 there may be an opportunity for some actual bipartisanship here. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:09.677 >> And again, it makes look it just makes sense. If the country is growing faster, 00:05:09.760 --> 00:05:12.797 it's going to be a happier health. It's going to be a happier it's going to be a 00:05:12.880 --> 00:05:16.557 fundamentally happier place because people whoever whichever side of the 00:05:16.640 --> 00:05:18.957 political spectrum you're on, there's going to be 00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:21.437 Reagan, Mr. Reagan, there's going to be a sense of optimism, right? There's 00:05:21.520 --> 00:05:23.597 going to be a sense of morning in America. There's gonna be a sense of 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:25.597 opportunity. There's going to be the sense that your kids are going to live 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:28.397 better lives than you do. Um, and and I don't think that's a particularly 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:31.357 partisan view at the end of the day. And I think there may be an opportunity to 00:05:31.440 --> 00:05:32.477 maybe bridge the divide a bit. 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:35.677 >> And I want to dig a little tiny bit deeper as we end into what that means 00:05:35.760 --> 00:05:38.637 because for me, for example, I think both of us see how healthcare doesn't 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:40.477 need to take up 20% of our GDP, right? 00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:44.877 It's very obvious that AI can make these things half a third the cost for better 00:05:44.960 --> 00:05:49.117 outcomes. And yet every one of our states in this country has very powerful 00:05:49.200 --> 00:05:52.957 provider and payer lobbies and has very powerful cartels that block competition. 00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:55.917 And so if we want to go build something with AI, we're not allowed to right now. 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:59.517 Like do you see the left and the right tech working together to fight these 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:01.997 special interests to actually fix the regulatory state? Because it's not like 00:06:02.080 --> 00:06:04.237 the administration could just do it, right? We have it's going to take a lot 00:06:04.320 --> 00:06:08.077 of effort. Like what does that coalition look like of the of the of the good guys 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:11.597 against this kind of broken regulatory cartel in all these industries? Is that 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:13.437 is that something we're going to all have to fight? 00:06:13.520 --> 00:06:16.157 >> Yeah. So the the way I think about this is there's basically right three 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:18.077 components to the American dream, right? 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:20.717 There's house, you know, have a have a house, have a a house for your kids 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:22.957 where and you know, kind of by definition, this goes back to the 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:26.077 geographic lens. The house needs to be like near a place where there's like 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:28.877 great job opportunities, right? So it can't be a house in the middle of 00:06:28.960 --> 00:06:31.917 nowhere. It has to be a house where there's going to be great jobs um and 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:35.277 you know, a safe environment and so forth. Um number one. Number two is is 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:37.997 is healthare. You need, you know, great healthcare for you and your family. And 00:06:38.080 --> 00:06:41.677 then three is education. You want to send your kids kids to good schools. Um 00:06:41.760 --> 00:06:45.357 if you disagregate sectors of the economy over the last 25 years, what you 00:06:45.440 --> 00:06:48.877 find is basically everything that technology touches basically collapses 00:06:48.960 --> 00:06:53.837 in price. Um and so television sets and you know computer games and you know 00:06:53.920 --> 00:06:56.877 everything you know anything with electronics in it basically the the 00:06:56.960 --> 00:06:59.917 prices productivity growth in those sectors has advanced very fast. Product 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:02.717 prices prices have have uh have collapsed. Everything is is much 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:06.237 cheaper. Um but if you chart uh housing, 00:07:06.320 --> 00:07:10.157 education and healthcare um the prices of those things are skyrocketing, right? 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:13.597 And and we all we all you we all see this is just the price of housing is 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:16.477 exploding, the price of education is exploding and the price of healthcare I 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:21.757 mean healthcare is 20% of the economy on its way to 50%. Um and uh and so the the 00:07:21.840 --> 00:07:25.277 prices are exploding and and and so it's like okay what what makes healthcare 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:28.077 what what makes those three components the American dream have these exploding 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:30.157 prices. It's basically it's two things. 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:33.517 Number one is uh and these are interrelated but number one is 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:36.957 technology is not really touching them very much. that and you could say the 00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:40.317 tech industry has done a bad job at addressing housing and healthcare and 00:07:40.400 --> 00:07:42.877 education or or you could say that you know those industries have been 00:07:42.960 --> 00:07:45.917 resistant to it. Uh but technology hasn't really touched them that much 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:49.117 which means that they productivity growth hasn't happened in them. Um and 00:07:49.200 --> 00:07:52.077 then the other thing is they're heavily regulated. Um they're they're heavily 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:54.477 dominated by the government. they're heavily regulated and then in all three 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:56.717 of those sectors uh the government both 00:07:56.800 --> 00:07:59.357 restricts supply right and so zoning 00:07:59.440 --> 00:08:03.757 laws and university certifications and so forth right mean that it's very hard 00:08:03.840 --> 00:08:07.597 to actually build new of of those three things um and then the government 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:10.317 responds to the political pressure caused by the rising prices by 00:08:10.400 --> 00:08:14.157 subsidizing demand and of course if you subsidize demand and a fix supply you 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:17.197 get skyrocketing prices right and so every time there's a housing cris you 00:08:17.280 --> 00:08:19.997 know it's perpetual housing crisis in California the answer always is 00:08:20.080 --> 00:08:23.037 subsidies for home buyers which always has the effect of driving prices up 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:27.757 further and making the problem worse, right? Um and so so so like that that 00:08:27.840 --> 00:08:31.517 that drives, you know, those are the microeconomics of of what's happening. 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:35.197 Um I don't think there's easy answers on this. I but I think the acknowledgement 00:08:35.280 --> 00:08:36.717 that this is in fact what's happening. 00:08:36.800 --> 00:08:39.837 And then I think the the pe to decide 00:08:39.920 --> 00:08:41.677 that they do not want to live this way. 00:08:41.760 --> 00:08:45.437 I I I think like or the marginal American voter needs to decide. It's 00:08:45.520 --> 00:08:48.397 just look, it's just not acceptable that if I can't spend $3 million, I can't 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:50.957 have a house that's in a good neighborhood with a good job attached to 00:08:51.040 --> 00:08:54.157 it. And it's just not acceptable uh that a four-year college degree is going to 00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:57.117 cost a million dollars, which is which is what it's on its way to doing. And 00:08:57.200 --> 00:08:59.917 it's just not acceptable that like this healthcare, you know, monster is running 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:04.237 out of control. Um and and so, you know, it it you in many ways like this is like 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:06.717 the fundamental, you know, policy political question of our time. You 00:09:06.800 --> 00:09:09.917 know, that kind of kind of needs to be dealt with. Again, these issues become 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:13.677 much easier to deal with in a high growth environment, right? Um and in in 00:09:13.760 --> 00:09:17.197 an environment with very rapid technological development. Um let me 00:09:17.280 --> 00:09:19.277 give you the good news story on on healthcare. Everybody talks about 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:20.877 healthcare. can't break these curves. 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:23.597 There's one area of healthcare that is incredibly sophisticated, 00:09:23.680 --> 00:09:26.797 technologically advanced, and the price curve looks like Moore's law. The price 00:09:26.880 --> 00:09:29.837 curve looks like video games. The price curve is just a straight line down, and 00:09:29.920 --> 00:09:33.837 the quality of the service has gone way up. And and that's lasic eye surgery, 00:09:33.920 --> 00:09:36.317 right? And and the reason it's and the reason that's the case is because it's 00:09:36.400 --> 00:09:39.197 it's outside the system. It's a discretionary purchase paid for by the 00:09:39.280 --> 00:09:42.717 consumer. Um, you know, and the the lasic eye studios are in like strip 00:09:42.800 --> 00:09:45.837 malls. Um, and they've got like, you know, three people and like a super 00:09:45.920 --> 00:09:49.757 advanced, you know, incredibly advanced like laser eye machine. um and you go in 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:52.797 there and you get zapped and you have perfect eyesight and it every year it 00:09:52.880 --> 00:09:56.157 gets better and cheaper. Um and so that's like an example of what happens 00:09:56.240 --> 00:09:59.037 if you're able to touch these sectors with technology and if you're able to 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:02.237 get them out from under all all the regulatory and government overhang and 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:05.677 so that that potential exists I think throughout the system but but 00:10:05.760 --> 00:10:09.117 fundamentally we have to decide we want it and and fundamentally the population 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:10.557 the country has to decide that it wants it. 00:10:10.640 --> 00:10:13.357 >> Well I'm optimistic more of the leaders in the tech and government sector are 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:16.077 going to be on our side and push through and fix these regulations and the 00:10:16.160 --> 00:10:17.757 technology is going to get us there. 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:18.797 Thank you, Mark, for being here. 00:10:18.880 --> 00:10:23.080 Appreciate it. >> Good. Thank you, everybody.