Coronavirus

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Anyone watched that science fiction movie called MOON? With the guy working all alone on a moon base. That's how my life is starting to feel now. At least I still can go for a run with my brother a couple of times a week - that's the only time I actually talk to a person...

I guess people being shut in with their family also have some issues, but more like cabin fever.
 
Anyone watched that science fiction movie called MOON? With the guy working all alone on a moon base. That's how my life is starting to feel now. At least I still can go for a run with my brother a couple of times a week - that's the only time I actually talk to a person...

I guess people being shut in with their family also have some issues, but more like cabin fever.

Watched it again recently ... it's very good.
 
Okay, so as everyone in the US is witnessing the US Senate arguing over a relief/economic stimulus bill. As everything with Congress, it's the typical shit show as usual.

I have a really easy solution to this. Send every American a check for 1 million dollars and give small businesses a good incentive and big businesses, well you'll get about half of what you would get. Because if every American has a million, the economic recovery after we go outside again will be friggin' phenomenal.

Feel free to write my name in as your write-in candidate for President.
 
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Okay, so as everyone in the US is witnessing the US Senate is arguing over a relief/economic stimulus bill. As everything with Congress, it's the typical shit show as usual.

I have a real easy solution to this. Send ever American a check for 1 million dollars and give small businesses a good incentive and big businesses, well you'll get about half of what you would get. Because if every American has a million, the economic recovery after we go outside again will be friggin' phenomenal.

Feel free to write my name in as your write in candidate for President.
315 trillion out of the gate and we won't even talk about the inflation. You would fit in with the rest of the politicians.

As it stands they are trying to figure something out and it scares me. There is talk of the program costing 4 trillion dollars but nobody is talking about where that money will come from. Nothing is free and the cost will far outweigh the benefits down the road. People are scared and this makes it a politician's wet dream. We all need to take a breath and calm the F down because those snakes need to be watched real close over the next few weeks.
 
Day 4. Only 35 new cases, we reached 301. Without more deaths at least.
The authorities have deepened the controls on the fulfillment of the isolation, there are people who think that it is vacation time and they move from one side to the other as if nothing happened.
 
Um, I said 1 million apiece. That's about $330 million, not trillion.
So there's only 330 people in the US. ;)

Injection of a reasonable universal income to keep the bare essentials going (ie food, utilities) is being touted across many countries. Giving everyone more than that would just spike inflation and cause more damage. If everyone wants applies and can suddenly buy more apples, the price of apples will increase because everyone will be out there buying more apples. (Same applies for Ferraris and Astin Martins). Making eveything completly free is not wise as it encourages waste - particularly of public utilities like water and electricity. Freezing rents and and mortgage payments for the duration of the health crisis is also wise if the aim is to mark time with the economy as much as possible. Probably the only option at this stage. Whether they know it or not, politicans around the world and their decisions now are determining for a large part who's going to lose the most in the coming months. There's also a risk it's going to open wounds between social class structures.

As explained to Bootie last night over chat, this is different to other economic downturns because it's not solely a reduction in demand that's causing the downturn, but also a dramtic downturn in supply induced by Government orders. This most notably applies to labour as we shut up shop and head in doors to play video games and watch Netflix. There's also another problem that global supply chains dry up and they take time to re-establish once the health crisis passes. For instance don't expect international flights to resume to levels from the start of the year overnight. Regardless, the fallout will last years economically. We're probably going to get a taste of the 1930's. In my opinion it's going to make the GFC look like a minor blip.

Hopefully from now on every time when a politican says "I'm a great economic manager" someone reminds them that our entire global economy ground to a stuttering halt because of one virus - or to quote one world leader 'the flu.' Shame I'm a realist...
 
Every now and then I just come to a jarring halt ... and am gobsmacked how surreal life and the world has become... :oops:


"In this time of crisis, we face two particularly important choices. The first is between totalitarian surveillance and citizen empowerment. The second is between nationalist isolation and global solidarity."
Yuval Noah Harari
 
Every now and then I just come to a jarring halt ... and am gobsmacked how surreal life and the world has become... :oops:


"In this time of crisis, we face two particularly important choices. The first is between totalitarian surveillance and citizen empowerment. The second is between nationalist isolation and global solidarity."
Yuval Noah Harari
I wonder how many of us pray that this will disappear from our lives
 
Every now and then I just come to a jarring halt ... and am gobsmacked how surreal life and the world has become... :oops:


"In this time of crisis, we face two particularly important choices. The first is between totalitarian surveillance and citizen empowerment. The second is between nationalist isolation and global solidarity."
Yuval Noah Harari


"May you live in interesting times"
 
Hopefully from now on every time when a politican says "I'm a great economic manager" someone reminds them that our entire global economy ground to a stuttering halt because of one virus - or to quote one world leader 'the flu.'

It's not so much the virus itself that causes the economic downturn - it's what countries are doing to stop it. I think most people were surprised how strong the policy response to this outbreak has been. That's also what took the markets by surprise. People didn't think the governments of the whole world would pull the emergency brake this hard over a virus that basically only kills people with one leg in the grave already. The markets assumed those people would be thrown under the bus to protect economic growth.

In theory, I think it would have been possible to let the virus spread and cause its damage and then disappear again, without society or the economy collapsing. Human beings have a high capacity for continuing to enjoy their own life even though they know other people are suffering. But I'm just talking about a hypothetical situation here. Not saying that would have been the right thing to do. I completely agree we have to protect vulnerable groups and elderly people.
 
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