- A recent report released by a Washington consulting firm outlined significant macro trends driving politics and policy by identifying key risks, like COVID-19 and inflation, heading into 2022.
- The report was authored by Bruce Mehlman, a founding partner of the Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas and former assistant secretary of Commerce in the George W. Bush administration. Mehlman advises prominent companies to understand and prepare for emerging trends and risks critical to the ever-evolving policy environment.
- Mehlman outlined over 20 risks in politics and policy, and the Daily Caller News Foundation identified eight of the most significant concerns. The risks included COVID-19, extreme weather, inflation, supply chain issues, stock market bubble, Biden’s perception, decoupling between U.S. and China and employee activism.
Inflation, “softness” in the White House, and pandemic uncertainty make up some of the biggest risks to the U.S. economy in 2022, according to a Washington consulting firm.
“Every quarter, I take a macro look at trends driving politics and policy looking both backward and forwards and identify where key political risks may lurk and where political opportunities may present themselves,” Bruce Mehlman, former assistant secretary of Commerce in the George W. Bush administration, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The most recent analysis targets 2022 and identifies the emerging risks business and government leaders should anticipate and prepare for.”
A founding partner of the Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas, Mehlman advises prominent companies to understand and prepare for emerging trends and risks critical to the ever-evolving policy environment.
Mehlman’s report, “Living In Limbo: Anticipating the Top 2022 Risks In Politics and Policy,” outlined over 20 risks in politics and policy, and the Daily Caller News Foundation identified eight of the most significant concerns.
COVID: The Fourth Wave
Looking forward to the risks COVID-19 poses heading into 2022, Mehlman believes the virus won’t suddenly disappear but also won’t wipe out humanity, he explained to the DCNF.
“I am not an epidemiologist, but it feels to me that this is the best example where all expectations are either 1 or 11. You hear it either a common cold or that we will all get sick and die,” Mehlman told the DCNF.
Instead, Mehlman sees an endemic situation, comparing it to a bad flu strain that will have a new flavor each year, he explained to the DCNF.
“At some point, we need to get to accepting that it will never go away and that it is not going to kill everybody,” Mehlman told the DCNF.
Extreme Weather Disasters
In 2021 we saw an influx in extreme weather disasters, increasing costs, challenging supply chains, and driving policy, Mehlman explained to the DCNF.
“So far, these policies have disfavored fossil fuels, reducing investments and inventories causing severe energy inflation,” Mehlman told the DCNF.
Increased severe weather disasters pose a serious risk to insurers, Mehlman added.
“Insurers use historical data to price risk. We are increasingly seeing 500-year record floods and other disasters that are out of proportion to what was witnessed in the past,” Mehlman told the DCNF.
Manufacturers: Supply Chains
There are short term, medium-term and long term problems facing supply chains entering 2022, Mehlman told the DCNF.
The short-term risk is the global employee, semi-conductor and energy shortages exacerbated by politics.
Medium-term challenges for supply chains are the rising theme of economic nationalism, Mehlman told the DCNF. Headwinds that made global supply chains so efficient from 1989 through 2019 are fading, posing the greatest long-term risks.
Consumer: Inflation
Continued inflation will continue to challenge the Biden administration’s agenda, Mehlman told the DCNF.
Soaring prices will determine how the Federal Reserve pursues its monetary policy heading into 2022, how much money the government will try and spend on safety nets and infrastructure, and if the administration will continue its antitrust competition reviews, Mehlman added.
“The companies the administration plans to go after are also probably some of the most productive companies in the economy,” he told the DCNF.
Inflation has soared to its highest level in 39 years, with the Consumer Price Index jumping 0.9% in November, bringing the key inflation indicator’s year-over-year increase to 6.8%. The producer price index, which measures inflation at the wholesale level, surged 9.6% year-over-year as of November, growing at the fastest rate ever measured.
Markets: Irrational Exuberance
The biggest threat stock markets face in 2022 is potential financial bubbles that would persist as the Fed tightens its monetary policy,  according to Mehlman’s report.
“The market is clearly out of all its historic wack,” Mehlman told the DCNF. “The fact that in the last year we saw as much money invested in equities as the last prior 19 years is not normal.”
“The fact that so many stocks are down but the biggest five to 10 are off the charts up is also very unusual,” he added.
Mehlman identified elements of a robust stock market with justified profits, but also noticed characteristics of a bubble, he told the DCNF.
Biden: Perceived “Softness”
President Joe Biden’s perceived “softness” will serve his political risk entering 2022, according to the report.
Mehlman pointed to Biden’s softness on the border, economy, crime, and foreign policy. As his approval rating continues to plummet, and more Americans see growing failures and weakness in the respective categories, Biden and the Democrats will have a harder time passing legislation, Mehlman explained to the DCNF.
 Multinationals: U.S.-China Decoupling
Looking at the future of U.S.-China relations, Mehlman saw a steady decoupling between the two world powers, but people shouldn’t “assume everything will catch on fire,” he told the DCNF.
Brands: Employee Activism
Business leaders have seen increasing employee activism after the Trump administration and George Floyd’s murder to urge businesses to become engaged in non-traditional issues, Mehlman told the DCNF. Company leaders now have to address employees urging their employers to combat growing liberal issues or run the risk of getting “canceled.”