Do your economic scenarios change depending on who is in the White House?

Yes. The differences are not good or bad; they are just different. For President Trump, trade is not so good. There’s also a question about the economy. President-elect Biden will have a more functional federal government. That’s important because the virus requires national leadership. Right now, states are competing for PPP, and they are not supporting Anthony Fauci. Both administrations will spend too much.

What about brick-and-mortar retail?

There will be less retail. The trends were already in place, but they have been accelerated. However, some retail is thriving:

• In Murray, Utah, Fashion Place Mall will continue to thrive.
• Many strip malls will be converted to housing. There is pressure to make affordable housing, and strip malls offer a good place to do just that.
• Remote sales are taxable sales. The state’s income from that is robust.
• People are nesting. They are spending money on food and their homes.
• Eating out and clothing purchases are both down.

Will in-migration hurt Utah’s culture?

Utah has traditionally taken a “wait and see” approach to things. We will see significant changes, some improvements and some negative things, but Utah is still a good place to be. Utah is egalitarian and mobile. If you are in the bottom fifth, you are more likely to rise here than anywhere else. As far as the pandemic is concerned, we are now doing everything short of shutting down.

Nov. 7, 2020, the governor used the alert system to tell people about a statewide address. It was very hard for the governor to get to a point where he had to mandate masks, but at least there has been no restriction on the economy. People who are 15-34 are the ones spreading the disease the most. Utah is a young state, so there are lots of people in Utah who are that age. The worst danger spots are informal settings, such as families spending time together at home after school.

Will our values be diluted? The three forces affecting Utah are urbanization, diversification and aging. Births continue to sustain our growth, and more than 24,000 people have moved here in the last 4-5 years. Many are past residents who are returning. As new people move into the state, we can invest in education, and we can persuade newcomers about the values that are important to us.

Will there be a national or state stimulus for construction?

We do need a new stimulus package, but nothing will happen until Jan. 20, 2021. It is better to borrow money for the stimulus package than not because the U.S. economy is not doing well. Ideally, we will get a $1-2 trillion stimulus. That means checks, help for targeted industries, testing and health care, and money.

Many state governments don’t spend money well, and the U.S. Senate doesn’t want us to reward irresponsible states.

We have $900 million in the rainy-day fund, and we haven’t touched it yet. Revenues are OK, and we still have money to spend from the CARES Act. We need $5 million for the arts, which have been devastated. Also, we need to help people who have been laid off. Airlines will get help.

If there are bailouts, where will the money come from?

Money is borrowed from the Chinese.

What else do you want to say?

These are challenging times, but I don’t want to end on a negative note. I’ve studied what happens when people get shipwrecked. The big question after a shipwreck is always, when will you get help? It turns out that the best way to survive is to seek kind people and be kind to others during uncertain times. That’s true now, too. Be positive, helpful and hopeful.