Breaking the Bank

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank—and the government’s response—trigger populist sentiments across the political spectrum, according to our Research and Insight team’s findings. 

Here’s what they discovered in canvassing their insight community of 300 news-attentive Americans about the events:

• Participants place responsibility for the collapse firmly at the feet of SVB’s leadership. But it triggers mistrust toward banks, tech companies and large companies more broadly. Participants are frustrated banks seem to have failed to learn from the mistakes of 2008, with Democrats believing banks have "gamed the system." Republicans and Democrats alike feel startups were taking too many risks.

• Participants across the political spectrum bemoan what they see as one set of rules for the wealthy and powerful, with another for "the common man." Participants express anger that SVB executives may have "cashed out" ahead of the collapse, with Americans having to deal with the fallout.

• Republicans are especially incensed at the decision to extend the FDIC’s guarantee to bank customers and clients with over $250,000 in deposits – with this decision in their minds undermining responsibility. Though Democrats are more supportive of the extension, some express anger that this means bailing out "venture capitalists" and big businesses. 

• Underpinning these views is a conviction that regulation has failed – most strongly expressed by Democrats, but also at times by Republicans. Participants on both sides talk about the rules and requirements for regional or small banks having been relaxed too much – with Democrats blaming the Trump Administration.

• Some Republicans echo the narrative that SVB’s collapse was caused by "wokeness"– with some feeling SVB was "distracted" by green investing or was focused on liberal causes. 

• While many don’t believe they will be directly impacted by the collapse, participants across the spectrum are concerned about the ripple effect of SVB’s collapse – whether the potential for more banks to run into difficulties, or an already fragile economy to fall into a deep recession.  

• Most participants express continued confidence in the banking system – but they worry about other people panicking and putting "their money under their mattress." However, others do see SVB as relatively isolated – in part as the bank is seen as different from most retail banks, given its focus on tech and start- ups.

  
  

For more information, please reach out to insights@fgsglobal.com—and find the full report here.

China is focused on kickstarting economic recovery and releasing pent-up domestic consumption demand. This was a key takeaway from one of China’s most important annual events – the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, known locally as “Liang Hui” or “Two Sessions,” which took place in Beijing earlier this month. 

In our comprehensive report on the Two Sessions, FGS Global’s teams in China and across our network share their considerations for international investors and companies in navigating the way forward:

• Economic growth is THE priority. Above all else China is seeking a stable and sustainable economy to achieve its broader development goals. But growth can only be achieved with a confident private sector, highlighting a critical role for multinational corporations (MNCs) in both supporting China’s economic agenda and telling a more nuanced and realistic China story amid growing global tensions. This requires carefully managing associated risks and addressing the shared and different interests of stakeholders in China and at home.

• Policy volatility is still a possibility, especially as the party expands and the state retreats. Major government restructuring and appointment of senior leaders with less experience than previous cohorts means the machinery of government will take time to get going. MNCs should fully use this transition period for continued engagement with stakeholders while closely monitoring how government restructuring will take shape—and how emerging policy details will impact the regulatory environment, business strategy and stakeholder landscape.

• A Premier with influence? Observers are divided if new Premier Li Qiang is just a “yes” man or if his relationship with Xi Jinping gives him space to push back and have a stronger voice in the economy, one which advances the private sector. We may have more clarity in the coming weeks, with much-anticipated events like the China Development Forum and Bo’ao Forum for Asia offering an opportunity for Li and China’s leaders to engage with visiting global CEOs.

  
  

Find the full analysis here.

After three years, 676 million COVID cases, 6.9 million deaths and 13.3 billion vaccine doses, Johns Hopkins University (JHU) has stopped collecting data for its Coronavirus Resource Center. The site became one of the pandemic’s most-visited resources for tracking COVID-19 around the world and was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2020. 

Capital in Context caught up with our Head of Digital Development Dan Stone, who led the team that built the site.  

How did this project get started?  

JHU had started a dashboard tracking cases and deaths, but it quickly became apparent the pandemic would not be contained and the need for actionable, real-time data was growing. FGS and Hopkins have had a long-standing relationship so when Hopkins decided to scale a website around the dashboard, they reached out to us to support the effort. 

They needed what our team is optimized for, which is rapid response digital and web communications. We very quickly became the production team backing the website we designed and constructed around the dashboard. The initial call came in on a Saturday morning and by the middle of the following week, we had a website up. 

What strategies helped drive the Resource Center’s prominent visibility?

The JHU dashboard became the number one result in all searches related to the pandemic. First and foremost, this is because of the quality of the work, the data and the tireless efforts of different teams across the university. But we wouldn’t have been able to give them the traffic and those billions of hits the way it was initially launched. 

We had to figure out how to make the website a hub, not just for the great work that the original dashboard team was doing in tracking the core effort, but also, what myriad other groups across Hopkins were doing to study, educate, and inform individual and public health decisions. Our team helped get the SEO strategy moving in a way that really was able to propel us to maintain a dominant position for a long time. And the communications side of our team helped drive earned media, including getting CNN to keep Johns Hopkins numbers on their screen every day. Having that integration and partnership across the board was key.

What do you need to pull off complex, high-stakes projects like this? 

Resilience, personal commitment, and a truly collaborative team. This is a project we all feel equal parts proud and deeply grateful to have been a part of.