[ProudFairfielder]

Originally Posted by ObedientSir

Thank god the economy was roaring when this happened or we would have REALLY been in trouble. America needs to open ASAP or there will be some long lasting damage to our economy.

I think May 20 is reasonable for the Northeast.

[synchem]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

The economic impacts of this are alarming, both short and long-term..

The long term economic impact of lots of people dying is much larger. The Government values each American life at 10 millions dollars over their lifespan in terms of economic impact. By closing the economy in the short term, through economic models, they believe they are actually preserving trillions of dollars in the long term by having people stay home to keep deaths down. Planet money podcast had an episode on this recently describing how the government makes these types of decisions based on what each American life is worth.

[BPt111]

We won’t recover until atleast Q2 2021

[JGBigGreen]

Given that Covid-19 is far more fatal for the elderly, using VSL to calculate the economic impact makes far less sense than using a quality adjusted life year calculation. It sounds cold and calculated but that is what economic decisions tend to be.

Originally Posted by synchem

The long term economic impact of lots of people dying is much larger. The Government values each American life at 10 millions dollars over their lifespan in terms of economic impact. By closing the economy in the short term, through economic models, they believe they are actually preserving trillions of dollars in the long term by having people stay home to keep deaths down. Planet money podcast had an episode on this recently describing how the government makes these types of decisions based on what each American life is worth.

[NUHuskies01]

Originally Posted by ObedientSir

Thank god the economy was roaring when this happened or we would have REALLY been in trouble. America needs to open ASAP or there will be some long lasting damage to our economy.

I have been thinking on this. Was the economy really roaring, or was it just the stock market? Because if the economy was really that great, major business in America would not have needed bailouts, like the airlines, hotels, casinos and other industries because they would have had cash reserves to make it through tough times.

Yes, I get that most of the money was used for the companies doing stock repurchases and such, but to me, it does not matter which "business channel" you watch, all of their "experts" when it comes to personal finances always say to have 3 months worth of $$$ put away to pay their bills. Does not seem like corporate America or regular Americans had that.

Certain industries always take a hit, like restaurants whose margins are tight to begin with, not looking at them here.

But again, if so many American's cant make rent after missing just one paycheck, maybe, just maybe, the economy was not doing as great as everyone thought, again, outside of the stock market.

[ConnecticutSir]

Originally Posted by NUHuskies01

I have been thinking on this. Was the economy really roaring, or was it just the stock market? Because if the economy was really that great, major business in America would not have needed bailouts, like the airlines, hotels, casinos and other industries because they would have had cash reserves to make it through tough times.

Yes, I get that most of the money was used for the companies doing stock repurchases and such, but to me, it does not matter which "business channel" you watch, all of their "experts" when it comes to personal finances always say to have 3 months worth of $$$ put away to pay their bills. Does not seem like corporate America or regular Americans had that.

Certain industries always take a hit, like restaurants whose margins are tight to begin with, not looking at them here.

But again, if so many American's cant make rent after missing just one paycheck, maybe, just maybe, the economy was not doing as great as everyone thought, again, outside of the stock market.

It wasn't just the stock market that was doing great. We were at statistical "full employment" too. The reason why people can't pay their rent and have no money saved up has little to do with the economy and everything to do with most people being materialistic and needing instant gratification. Nowadays people care more about having the latest iPhone than being content with what they have and putting that money in savings. I admit I'm guilt of that too. The older generations weren't like that. Hopefully this will be a wakeup call for a lot of people.

[Stepfordct]

Originally Posted by ObedientSir

It wasn't just the stock market that was doing great. We were at statistical "full employment" too. The reason why people can't pay their rent and have no money saved up has little to do with the economy and everything to do with most people being materialistic and needing instant gratification. Nowadays people care more about having the latest iPhone than being content with what they have and putting that money in savings. I admit I'm guilt of that too. The older generations weren't like that. Hopefully this will be a wakeup call for a lot of people.

Yes, hopefully it's a wake-up call to fight the urges of consumerism.
However that's the very thing the economy needs to come back!

[synchem]

Originally Posted by ObedientSir

It wasn't just the stock market that was doing great. We were at statistical "full employment" too. The reason why people can't pay their rent and have no money saved up has little to do with the economy and everything to do with most people being materialistic and needing instant gratification. Nowadays people care more about having the latest iPhone than being content with what they have and putting that money in savings. I admit I'm guilt of that too. The older generations weren't like that. Hopefully this will be a wakeup call for a lot of people.

Yea we were at (as you appropriately put in quotes) "full employment" but so much of that was people working multiple part-time jobs with little benefits. A lot of people being underemployed to what they were at some other previous point in time.

[NUHuskies01]

Originally Posted by ObedientSir

It wasn't just the stock market that was doing great. We were at statistical "full employment" too. The reason why people can't pay their rent and have no money saved up has little to do with the economy and everything to do with most people being materialistic and needing instant gratification. Nowadays people care more about having the latest iPhone than being content with what they have and putting that money in savings. I admit I'm guilt of that too. The older generations weren't like that. Hopefully this will be a wakeup call for a lot of people.

"full employment", good point. Gotta disagree on the materialistic point though, it is one I have never bought into. Its an idea that has been around for ever, instead now people point to Iphones, when in the past they pointed out, "that person cannot be so poor they own a fridge!" Fact is though, a cell phone has become a necessity, like a fridge. Maybe you do not need the best and newest every year, but good luck in living without one.

Also does not solve the problem on why companies are laying people off. A company like the WWE should have been doing so well that they can make it through this period fine. Now - I get that their losses on the XFL probably drove that, but they are just one company of many.

[BobNJ1960]

Hopefully by Memorial Day the outlook will be much better if the regional trend holds.