Launchpad Republic

9The Inflection Point?

After four decades of success, American entrepreneurial capitalism faced a critical challenge in the COVID outbreak that emerged early in 2020. At one level, the quick reaction to the crisis actually highlighted the strength of the nation's balanced economic system. The speedy vaccine development and rollout showed impressive collaboration between upstarts and incumbents, as new firms such as Moderna and established giants such as Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson all made important contributions. Retailers such as Target, CVS, and Walgreens led the mass distribution, alongside start‐ups that helped identify locations and schedule appointments. The strength of America's mixed economy was on display. The consensus around entrepreneurial capitalism, with its ability to enable innovation, create opportunity, and challenge large incumbent companies to stay sharp, remained largely intact. Moreover, the quick and strong stock market rebound and increased consumer savings as a result of government payments and other measures helped alleviate the crisis for many, at least temporarily.

Yet the crisis amplified long‐standing concerns over social issues that had bubbled below the surface for years. Some of these concerns had emerged with the fallout from the financial crisis in 2008 and the subsequent Occupy Wall Street movement. The divisiveness of President Trump, the George Floyd murder, continuing revelations from the MeToo movement, and intensified concern about ...