Category Archives: Economy
Uncle Sam Blew $3 Trillion on the Virus in Six Weeks
Uncle Sam blew $3 trillion on the coronavirus in six weeks. But the bug is still laying waste to the economy. And the Congressional Budget Office projects a deficit of $3.7 trillion this year. What to do? Hit it with more money.
It’s Spring and the Covid Protests are in Bloom
It’s spring and the Covid protests are in bloom.
Well, it’s not about Covide-19, if that’s what you mean:
Many have compared the protests to the early days of the Tea Party movement. That comparison tracks: The anti-quarantine demonstrations are another reaction to what supporters see as inappropriate government imposition, especially in the economy, bolstered by organizations like conservative advocacy group FreedomWorks, which also aligned itself with the Tea Party. But, like the Tea Party, economic concerns are where the ideology starts, not where it ends…
Emma Grey Ellis, Wired
Covid Protests
It’s really about a lack of humility in leaders like Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer:
There really are two Americas here: Those still getting a paycheck from government, corporations or universities, and those who are unemployed, or seeing their small businesses suffer due to shutdowns. And the America still getting paid is, so far, not showing a whole lot of sympathy for the America that isn’t.
Glenn Reynolds
And, for Vox – it’s all about white privilege.
Phase Four of the Virus War Coming
Phase four of the virus war could include another 2 trillion to bail out states and build infrastructure.
Virus War
But John Kass thinks that’s not what people want or need right now:
Nobody in politics has been laid off.
And what of the small-business owner who doesn’t build roads? She risked everything to open her business. She went into debt. But there are no customers now, and the landlord wants the rent and the taxman is always waiting.
She doesn’t see herself as someone who Just Wants People to Die.She wants to work. She wants to live.
-John Kass, Chicago Tribune
Dismal Science of Ending the Shutdown
It’s a dismal science for the governors of Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina as they re-open their states for business. And public health officials aren’t excited about the prospect. Here’s Dr. Fauci:
“We are scientists, physicians, public health officials. We’re not economists,” he said on CNN’s “New Day.” “We’re sensitive to the idea that the economy could suffer, but it was patently obvious looking at the data, that at the end of the day if we try to push back prematurely, not only would we lose lives, but it probably would even hurt the economy.”
Kevin Liptack, CNN
Dismal Science
So, how much is a life worth? Economists have a plan for that:
Economists use the Value of Statistical Life. It measures the value placed on changes that increase likelihood of death, not the value on a human life to avoid death. “It’s used in court cases when assigning damages,” Camerer said. I could make a highway a little safer at a very high cost. This is one reason economics is called the dismal science.
Quentin Fottrell, MarketWatch
Oil Has a Negative Attitude
Now even oil has a negative attitude. The price of West Texas Crude went negative yesterday. Nobody wants to buy the stuff. So producers were theoretically willing to pay you $37.63 at one point to take a barrel off their hands.
That was the price on a May contract which expires today. So if you have a tanker parked somewhere, now’s the time. The price on June contracts and later should move back up to positive territory.
Pippa Stevens at CNBC explains why.
Meanwhile, negative interest rates could be on the way to a bank near you. Thanks to negative rates in Europe and Japan, savers pay institutions there to store their money for them.
And, if you’re feeling nostalgic, here’s a cartoon in memory of high gas prices.
