Earlier quoted context omitted.
After the depression the US emerged as the global hegemon because of major shifts in power that happened as a part of WWII. The US was uniquely adapted to grow to be the global super power at the same time that European nations were taking a huge hit from the war. I suspect this will ultimately lead to China as the new hegemon. We're seeing key advantages to the Chinese state that the US cannot adapt to. Decades of p…
Germany lost 2 World Wars and today it has greater GDP than UK by $1 trillion. It doesn't matter who is hit harder it matters whose economy is more efficient and has more innovations.
3.28M file for U.S. jobless benefits
321–330 of 711 posts
Re: 3.28M file for U.S. jobless benefits
#322Earlier quoted context omitted.
After the depression the US emerged as the global hegemon because of major shifts in power that happened as a part of WWII. The US was uniquely adapted to grow to be the global super power at the same time that European nations were taking a huge hit from the war. I suspect this will ultimately lead to China as the new hegemon. We're seeing key advantages to the Chinese state that the US cannot adapt to. Decades of p…
I’m not sure about this. China is, rightfully, being blamed for the initial outbreak of the virus and their failure to contain it. I think when the dust settles, we’re going to see a rapid decoupling from China as countries look inward to strengthen their domestic supply chains. I have a hard time seeing China emerging as a winner from this crisis.
China cares for its people by imprisoning them with brute technology and camps?
Re: 3.28M file for U.S. jobless benefits
#323Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If this lockdown continues indefinitely the death numbers from the economic fallout will likely eclipse those of the pandemic. Seeing that doing nothing will likely lead to lead to millions of deaths, how would the lockdown possibly kill more than that? Are you under the impression people will just willingly starve to death, or that fighting over food will get so bad that millions of people will die?
First of all the "millions of deaths" comes from one model. There are many others and we haven't tested enough to know the true spread or lethality of the virus in a general population. It's quite possible that many people have already had covid-19 and were completely asymptomatic, which would make the death rate look much less scary. Anyone who tells you with certainty that "millions will die" is going off incomplet…
Finally, the UK changed their strategy away from sequestering the 70+ population because Imperial College told them that would only halve their death toll, and it would still remain solidly in the millions (for a country of 66 million).
Re: 3.28M file for U.S. jobless benefits
#324Earlier quoted context omitted.
syphilis was also caused by globalization! i hope many travel restrictions become permanent. ban cruises, make tourism difficult and expensive, cut off travel totally between the hemispheres. nature is being completely destroyed by human activity, this is an opportunity to reverse it.
If you're worried about the environment you can just add a carbon recapture tax to gas. Banning travel between large areas is ridiculous and wouldn't happen. Especially when a policy of quarantine during outbreaks would be equally effective with a vastly smaller cost.
PS: China’s case fatality rate broke 4%, though they likely undercounted cases by ~50% if not more.
Re: 3.28M file for U.S. jobless benefits
#325Being a sole proprietor / contractor right now feels hopeless. Nobody is spending money with me right now, projects on hold, no possible way of filing for unemployment. It's worrisome. Thankfully my wife is still working - but she's an administrator at a Nursing Home and people there are starting to get tested - and she's panicking. They are days from having no nurses. She's worried about cleaning crews being sick. S…
Re: 3.28M file for U.S. jobless benefits
#326Earlier quoted context omitted.
> in permanent overload It won't be permanent. It will be like a forest fire and kill a lot of people and be horrible, but will eventually die down due to heard immunity.
Doctors have passed from the illness, too. Even young, healthy ones. Stress and lack of sleep hurt the immune system.
Re: 3.28M file for U.S. jobless benefits
#327Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why’s that? I see that the SP500 is rising... but why is this “good news” for businesses?
The danger was businesses losing customers (revenue/income), which these initial numbers confirm...but on the other hand these jobless folks (and the whole country)just took out a $6T loan, of which $5.75T is going to these businesses ($1.75 will not have to be paid back and $4T will be interest free loans, and likely in may cases these companies will actually have negative interest rates, in other words they will ma…
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/coronavirus-stimulus-packa...
Re: 3.28M file for U.S. jobless benefits
#328Earlier quoted context omitted.
> And maybe - just maybe - it's time everybody took another look at the UBI debate, again. Doesn't UBI directly result in inflation and cause currency devaluation? If the money that you hold loses its value (because everyone has at the very least the same amount of money as a basic, consistent income) then it is worth nothing in the end. It is as good as having no money in my humble opinion. Money has to be valuable…
You would have to implement it in a way that redistributed wealth, i.e. increase marginal tax rates. The goal is to make sure everyone is housed, fed, and educated. One option is to just give them housing, food, and education. Another is to give people money and let them choose. Yet another is to loan the money and to put them in debt forever.
It's a noble goal. What about exercising the option of personal responsibility and agency of choice? (D) none of the above.
Re: 3.28M file for U.S. jobless benefits
#329And as an econ/business reporter points out, this should be seen as the lower bound on the true number of lost job, because there are a lot of reasons people didn't file, including confusion, overwhelmed systems, and many lost jobs not qualifying: https://twitter.com/bencasselman/status/1243147516784324608
Re: 3.28M file for U.S. jobless benefits
#330Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you're worried about the environment you can just add a carbon recapture tax to gas. Banning travel between large areas is ridiculous and wouldn't happen. Especially when a policy of quarantine during outbreaks would be equally effective with a vastly smaller cost.
Quarantine completely failed to prevent what was a highly localized disease globally in 2 months. We need to accept it’s simply ineffective across international borders unless draconian measures are applied before they seem required. We might get through this with 100,000 people dying globally or 100,000,000 it’s completely unknown at this point. But, should the second happen expect some significant changes to happen…
I might have been unclear, but I was suggesting quarantine for everyone coming in, as an alternative to banning travel forever.
Quarantine set up once you already have an outbreak is uh, a different matter.