Economics Thread

How long can we keep this up?

It is still very early in the U.S. effort to snuff a lethal pandemic by shutting down much of the economy. But there is a growing question — from workers, the White House, corporate boardrooms and small businesses on the brink — that hangs over what is essentially a war effort against a virus that has already killed more than 9,000 Americans.

To determine when to restart activity, said R. Glenn Hubbard, a former top economist under President George W. Bush, “we need more information.”

Interviews with more than a dozen economists, many of whom are veterans of past presidential administrations, reveal broad consensus on the building blocks the economy needs — but does not yet have — to begin the slow process of restoring normalcy in the American economy.

That includes widespread agreement that the United States desperately needs more testing for the virus in order to give policymakers the first key piece of evidence they need to determine how fast the virus is spreading and when it might be safe for people to return to work.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/...tion=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage
 
I've drawn a parallel between WWII and the fight against COVID-19.

There is one area where the parallel breaks down. It has to do with debt and intergenerational equity.

Large deficits during WWII could be justified on the grounds that the world was being made safe (safer) for future generations.

With COVID we are largely making the world safe for grandma and grandpa and saddling the grandkids with the bill.

Something to think about.
 
nsacpi said:
With COVID we are largely making the world safe for grandma and grandpa and saddling the grandkids with the bill.
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sturg33 said:
I think we have wrecked the economy unnecessarily.
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I'm changed my mind a bit on this. COVID wrecked the economy. And it would have possibly wrecked it even more if the policy response had been to do nothing and just let the old people die. In a "do nothing" world, people would have instinctively shut down large parts of the economy even without any direction from government. The imponderable part is what "doing nothing" while large numbers of people die does to business and consumer psychology, not to mention social order and cohesion. We can only speculate on that score.
 
nsacpi said:
I'm changed my mind a bit on this. COVID wrecked the economy. And it would have possibly wrecked it even more if the policy response had been to do nothing and just let the old people die. In a "do nothing" world, people would have instinctively shut down large parts of the economy even without any direction from government. The imponderable part is what "doing nothing" while large numbers of people die does to business and consumer psychology, not to mention social order and cohesion. We can only speculate on that score.
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So, kudos to orange man?
 
sturg33 said:
That has to hurt.

Thought we'd agree on this one
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huh...chosen one is so shockingly bad at presidenting that there is really nothing much left to say...sure other governments have stumbled and been caught flat-footed by this pandemic...sure our own government has not been perfect before he became president...sure there were negative trends before he became president...but he has accelerated all of those negative trends and left us in a situation where pretty much all of the parts of government tasked with dealing with this crisis have stumbled badly...and the handful of competent people who have been trying to guide us through this have constantly had to waste time and energy dealing with his poorly-conceived impulsive ideas
 
nsacpi said:
huh...chosen one is so shockingly bad at presidenting that there is really nothing much left to say...sure other governments have stumbled and been caught flat-footed by this pandemic...sure our own government has not been perfect before he became president...sure there were negative trends before he became president...but he has accelerated all of those negative trends and left us in a situation where pretty much all of the parts of government tasked with dealing with this crisis have stumbled badly...and the handful of competent people who have been trying to guide us through this have constantly had to waste time and energy dealing with his poorly-conceived impulsive ideas
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Would do you think Hillary would have done If she were prez?
 
uh, isn't that meme just saying you could maybe figure a way to keep the economy and not kill a **** ton of old people for the sake of money like a damn nazi

but maybe i have been misunderstanding that meme format for a while now then lol

i also find it funny to think the economy would be just fine with doing nothing and just a **** ton of people dying all over
 
People would have panicked even if nothing was shut down. Buisnesses would still have taken a huge hit and we probably would have got to a shutdown eventually. In times of crisis one of the most important thing is to have someone in charge that people trust. Trump ain't it. Fox News would be losing their mind if Hillary was President during this.
 
Krgrecw said:
Would do you think Hillary would have done If she were prez?
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I'm sure she would have made mistakes. Consider, however, that there are a yuge number of important positions at HHS, Homeland Security and other key agencies currently held by "actings." And chosen one has generally brought in a lower caliber (sorry to be a snob) of people into government. It is not hard to infer that this has had a deleterious effect on the government's ability to function. In normal times as well as times of crisis.

There is a piece at politico that spells out the situation in all its glory. Key parts of government are seriously short-handed at the moment. And that is self-inflicted. And the inflictor-in-chief is chosen one.

https://www.politico.com/news/magaz...bs-meant-to-stop-the-covid-19-epidemic-173347
 
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nsacpi said:
I'm sure she would have made mistakes. Consider, however, that there are a yuge number of important positions at HHS, Homeland Security and other key agencies currently held by "actings." And chosen one has generally brought in a lower caliber (sorry to be a snob) of people into government. It is not hard to infer that this has had a deleterious effect on the government's ability to function. In normal times as well as times of crisis.

There is a piece at politico that spells out the situation in all its glory. Key parts of government are seriously short-handed at the moment. And that is self-inflicted. And the inflictor-in-chief is chosen one.

https://www.politico.com/news/magaz...bs-meant-to-stop-the-covid-19-epidemic-173347
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Would hillary have closed the borders?
 
Krgrecw said:
I think we all know the answer to that. Better chance of her blaming corona on a YouTube video than closing the border
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Its fantastic watching Trump get the blame for this when the US is in a better position than almost every country despite having larger densely populated cities with higher concentrations of travel with China.

Its just very fitting with what we have seen the last 3 years.
 
I dont know what Hillary would have done but I do know Trump would be all over Twitter claiming no one would have died if he was President.
 
Shouldnt the government be hiring and training a small or not-so-small army of people to do contact tracing as preparation for re-opening the economy
 
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