Welcome to Axis ProRata, where we take just 10 minutes to get you smarter on the collision of tech, business, and politics.

Sponsored by Bridge Bank. Be bold. Venture wisely. I'm Dan Pramak. On today's show, Tech versus the virus and Uncle Sam as the lender of last resort.

But first, a manufactured crisis. Politicians love to talk about the importance of

American manufacturing, but almost always in the context of jobs. Today, though, U.S. manufacturers have

become vital because of what they make more than who's making it. Specifically, companies are

being asked to build tens of thousands of ventilators and either stitch together or repurpose billions

of face masks to ward off some of the ugliest coronavirus scenarios. And just for context,

in New York State, they believe they need 30,000 ventilators. But as of yesterday, had just

7,000. If worse does come to worse, doctors there will either need to try to keep multiple

patients alive on the same ventilator, or more likely, be forced to make some very gruesome decisions.

This is the reason why you've heard about automakers and companies like Honeywell rushing to build ventilators and alcohol companies rushing to make hand sanitizer.

And the FDA has indeed eased some restrictions to help grease the wheels, particularly on N95 face masks.

One thing that hasn't happened yet, though, is President Trump fully implementing the Defense

Production Act, which would direct certain private companies to begin or ramp up production.

He says this is because manufacturers and other companies are already doing their parts voluntarily.

Although, again, New York

Governor Andrew Cuomo keeps publicly pleading with Trump on the ventilator shortage.

In short, lots has been done already, but we're still playing catch-up.

In 20 seconds, we'll go deeper with Axios reporter Joanne Mueller.

But first, this.

The Equity Fund Resources Group at Bridgebank is a central hub for the venture capital and

private equity communities.

...