Business leaders are ready for radical cures to the economy in a post-pandemic world

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Add a new qualification to the list of what it takes to be a successful CEO: Expertise in microbiology.

Business leaders today are understandably focused on offering support to health-care experts dealing with coronavirus. But a growing number of chief executives are now speaking publicly about what the economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis needs to look like. CEOs are talking about melding medicine with capital and public policy. Their common goal is to get people working again, and the economy back on its feet, as soon as it is safe to do so.

Witness Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase & Co., among the highest profile U.S. chief executives, pounding the table for “serology testing” in a shareholder letter on Monday. Why is a bank CEO suddenly passionate about screening for antibodies?

Because with the proper medical tests in place, “people can carefully start going back to work, of course with proper social distancing, vigilant hygiene, proper testing and other precautions,” Mr. Dimon said. “This ‘return to work’ process could be accelerated if federal, state and local governments make tests widely available that allow people to certify that they have contracted and recovered from the disease, have the necessary antibodies to prevent them from getting sick again and are not infectious to anyone.”

Dave McKay also rolled out a few lines on Monday more typically heard by a character on Grey’s Anatomy rather than Royal Bank of Canada’s CEO.

“We will need to invest aggressively in mass testing for COVID-19 and adopt new approaches to monitoring,” Mr. McKay said in an online essay. Again, there was a call to get children back in schools and workers back at their jobs. Mr. McKay said: “We will need to lay out plans for re-engagement, to determine which parts of society can open up first and how we can approach that narrow door without sparking a social stampede.”

The CEOs’ bedside manner features refreshingly brutal honesty. “This quarter alone will likely see the biggest economic decline any of us have witnessed, with job losses and business closings,” Mr. McKay said. “Many of us are now recognizing we are unlikely to see a V-shaped economic recovery, as we were hoping just a few weeks ago.”

JPMorgan is running stress tests to ensure the bank can weather a deep recession, with a 35-per-cent drop in U.S. GDP and 14-per-cent unemployment rates that persist through the end of the year. In an observation that is bound to ruffle feathers at the White House, Mr. Dimon said: “As a nation, we were clearly not equipped for this global pandemic, and the consequences have been devastating.”

In coming weeks and months, true leaders in business have an opportunity to follow the lead of microbiologists and medical professionals by helping individuals and businesses recover from the impact of COVID-19. There’s already evidence the business crowd is ready for radical cures.

Mr. McKay, whose bank has prospered from serving global corporate clients, said Canada needs to revisit the policies that let foreign players dominate key domestic sectors such as tech, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing. “Our governments, leading enterprises and academic institutions need to determine how to best develop and protect more resilient Canadian supply chains,” the RBC boss said. “Of course, a more self-reliant Canada could become a more expensive Canada.”

When Royal Bank’s chief executive is making a case for protectionist policies, it’s clear the winds of change are blowing. CEOs see the need to match the medical profession in dealing with COVID-19 fallout with “speed and scale,” as Mr. McKay put it. “We will need to move faster than we may be comfortable with and strive for a scale that’s bold and ambitious.”

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