Was The American Pandemic Preventable With Early Warnings?

'THE FIFTH RISK,' IT JUST FRAMED THE U.S. GOVERNMENT AS A RISK MANAGEMENT ENTERPRISE.

FORGET ABOUT THE REST OF IT.

THERE ARE THESE EXISTENTIAL RISKS THIS ENTERPRISE CAN MANAGE, AMONG THEM THE RISK OF PANDEMIC DISEASE.

THE PROBLEM OF THE CORROSION OF THOSE TOOLS AND THEN WITH TRUMP THE COMPLETE NEGLECT OF THEM, THE QUESTION TO ME WAS, IT WASN'T LIKE IS SOMETHING BAD GOING TO HAPPEN, BUT WHEN.

IT HAPPENED TO HAVE BEEN A PANDEMIC.

IT WAS REALLY THE FIRST MANAGEMENT CHALLENGE THAT TRUMP REALLY FACED.

AND IT WAS CATASTROPHIC.

SO YES AT THE START OF THE PANDEMIC I THOUGHT, WELL, THIS IS THE THING THAT HAPPENED.

LET'S SEE HOW IT PLAYS OUT.

LET'S SEE IF THE THINGS WE LEARNED ABOUT THE FEDERAL RISK MANAGEMENT TOOLS ARE RELEVANT HERE.

BECAUSE, IN FACT, WE ALL HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT AMERICA WAS THE NUMBER ONE MOST PREPARED NATION FOR A PANDEMIC AND IT WOULD BE ABLE TO DEAL WITH WHATEVER CAME ITS WAY IN THIS SITUATION.

AND YET, IT DIDN'T, OBVIOUSLY.

IT'S INCREDIBLE, RIGHT?

A COLLECTION OF HUNDREDS OF EXPERTS AND RESEARCHERS IN 2000 THROUGH 2019 SET OUT WITH MONEY THROUGH THE NUCLEAR THREAT INITIATIVE TO ANALYZE WHO'S GOING TO RESPOND TO THIS AND WHO'S MOST PREPARED AND RANK THEM.

THE UNITED STATES AND THE UNITED KINGDOM END UP ONE AND TWO IN THE WRITINGS.

AS OF MY WRITING, THE UNITED STATES HAD ROUGHLY 4% OF THE WORLD'S POPULATION AND A BIT MORE THAN 20% OF THE DEATHS.

IT REALLY REMINDED ME OF THESE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PRESEASON RANKINGS WHERE THE BIG FANCY SCHOOLS GET OVERRATED AND WHEN THE GAMES ARE PLAYED, IT DOESN'T WORK OUT.

IT RAISES THIS QUESTION, WHAT IS PREPAREDNESS, WHAT IS MANAGING RISK?

IT DIDN'T SIMPLY HAVE THE SMARTEST PEOPLE AND THE MOST MICRO BIOLOGY LAB.

THESE TWO SOCIETIES REALLY FAILED AT IT.