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U.S. Labor Department allows unemployment benefits for coronavirus

reuters.com

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Re: U.S. Labor Department allows unemployment benefits for coronavirus

#61

Post by throw51319 »

vsareto wrote: post #54
throw51319 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You got bored of collecting an easy paycheck? But do you think tech hiring will really slow down? I feel like there is just too much momentum in the area. We are the force multipliers.

Yeah I had just switched to pentesting, was eager to get started. Killed some passion. Believe me, I'd still be collecting it if I knew this was going to happen. >But do you think tech hiring will really slow down? We should be good but these are extraordinary times.

Did you have a solid safety net when you bailed? I considered doing the same a year or so ago. I don't think this is a systemic problem like 2008... so I don't see how it kills off viable tech projects. If you are top 20% skills you will be fine. It's just going to kill off overleveraged entities, and also kill off non-viable business models.

Re: U.S. Labor Department allows unemployment benefits for coronavirus

#62

Post by ThrowawayR2 »

ohithereyou wrote: post #28

If COVID-19 digs in deep in the US then there is going to be a transformational change in how US citizens think about work, travel, entertainment, security, and the relationship between US citizens and their government. All of these aspects are intertwined: Work: More people will work more time from home and many firms will switch to virtually full time remote with limited physical gathering. This will decrease the c…

> "If COVID-19 digs in deep in the US then there is going to be a transformational change in how US citizens think about work, travel, entertainment, security, and the relationship between US citizens and their government."

Even the Spanish Flu didn't manage to do that and the actual death toll was even higher than the projections from COVID-19.

Re: U.S. Labor Department allows unemployment benefits for coronavirus

#63

Post by lukifer »

black_puppydog wrote: post #39

One of my podcasts recently said something that I found very fitting: Americans really love themselves some socialism when they get it.

We have incredible status quo bias on the subject of public resources and economic infrastructure; if we already have it (schools, libraries, Medicare), it's sacrosanct; but if it's any new idea or initiative, it's scary socialism destined to lead to starvation and gulags.

The legendary Craig T. Nelson quote comes to mind: "I've been on food stamps and welfare. Anybody help me out? No."

Re: U.S. Labor Department allows unemployment benefits for coronavirus

#64

Post by jeh993 »

epicureanideal wrote: post #56

I wonder if people who don't have regular jobs would be able to use these services in any way? As far as I know, self employed people don't qualify for these for example. I'm not an expert, but that's what it looked like last time I checked.

Being self-employed and having lost a lot of business due to the cancellation of conferences and sporting events, I've looked into it and as far as I am aware, I am not eligible for any sort of unemployment benefit.

Re: U.S. Labor Department allows unemployment benefits for coronavirus

#65

Post by gnopgnip »

thrill wrote: post #2

You know what else would help? Since the risk curve bends sharply upward at age 60, immediately allow anyone to start drawing full social security payments at age 60, without any sort of penalty. Those companies that value their older workers would now be in the position of making work-from-home a full-fledged option, because the bargaining power would shift to where it belongs - the worker.

Being able to collect social security early is not as big of a negotiating tool as you would expect. It just doesn't pay enough to be an alternative for a lot of people, and it wasn't designed to be

Re: U.S. Labor Department allows unemployment benefits for coronavirus

#66

Post by refurb »

black_puppydog wrote: post #39

One of my podcasts recently said something that I found very fitting: Americans really love themselves some socialism when they get it.

I don't think there are any humans alive on this earth that won't happily accept free money.

Re: U.S. Labor Department allows unemployment benefits for coronavirus

#67

Post by tathougies »

claudeganon wrote: post #16
QuesnayJr wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The $1.5 trillion injection doesn't actually cost any money. The Fed is making short-term fully-collateralized loans.

Yes, just like how poor people can get 1.5 trillion in subsidized payday loans to cover the gap between pay checks...oh wait. It’s absolutely a bailout.

Except this time the federal reserve is paying money for loans collateralized by the federal government. It's a bit like purchasing your home loan from your bank and then giving it back after they pay you a bit of interest for it.

Re: U.S. Labor Department allows unemployment benefits for coronavirus

#68

Post by lukifer »

ThrowawayR2 wrote: post #62
ohithereyou wrote: post #28

If COVID-19 digs in deep in the US then there is going to be a transformational change in how US citizens think about work, travel, entertainment, security, and the relationship between US citizens and their government. All of these aspects are intertwined: Work: More people will work more time from home and many firms will switch to virtually full time remote with limited physical gathering. This will decrease the c…

> " If COVID-19 digs in deep in the US then there is going to be a transformational change in how US citizens think about work, travel, entertainment, security, and the relationship between US citizens and their government. " Even the Spanish Flu didn't manage to do that and the actual death toll was even higher than the projections from COVID-19.

Instantaneous worldwide communication is arguably a game-changer. And while it's easy to be pessimistic about the state of science education, the ability and motivation to self-educate may have some impact on national and global consciousness. Neither of these things were even slightly possible 100 years ago.

Re: U.S. Labor Department allows unemployment benefits for coronavirus

#69

Post by gnopgnip »

black_puppydog wrote: post #39

One of my podcasts recently said something that I found very fitting: Americans really love themselves some socialism when they get it.

US government spending is 38% of the GDP. But don't call it socialism, it's economic stimulus.

Re: U.S. Labor Department allows unemployment benefits for coronavirus

#70

Post by SilasX »

ivalm wrote: post #20
claudeganon wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, just like how poor people can get 1.5 trillion in subsidized payday loans to cover the gap between pay checks...oh wait. It’s absolutely a bailout.

Payday loans are generally not overnight and are typically not collateralized; they are in fact very risky. Repo's are overnight borrowing collateralized by the US Treasuries. Basically it is borrowing to maintain capitalization requirements in these high volatility times. From the perspective of the US government they have literally 0 risk (you are guaranteed to get back either USD denominated money or US treasury).

If you want to use that analogy ...

You should compare it to a payday loan that is collateralized [1]. And then where the collateral happens to be insufficient because a glut of that item just came on the market (analogous to the sudden rush of banks needing to convert their Treasurys to cash).

For the ordinary person, "Sorry, can't help you, you just have to deal with the fact that everyone else is selling that product too and so it doesn't provide the value you want and you have to take a big loss or an interest rate corresponding to higher risk."

For banks, "Omg! You can't sell your bonds at par because everyone else is trying to sell before maturity? You poor thing, let me buy them up for you with new money!"

[1] Sometimes referred to as "title loans", as you might e.g. put up your (remaining equity in your) car as the collateral.

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