Covid-19 Economic Impact

[Rover]

I honestly thought that surely it wasn't needed here... I thought I was pretty funny but I guess not. I guess my kids are right.

Given the level of knowledge of many who post on this topic and the statements they make you can’t take anything for granted.

[Edmond Hausfrau]

Question for any economists. I see all these people on comment sections of cities debating mask mandate, saying it's communism...or saying the mayor is a communist for considering it. My question? Isn't the fact that every man, woman, and child got $1200 check from the government more suggestive of, well, communism?

[PoliSciGuy]

Question for any economists. I see all these people on comment sections of cities debating mask mandate, saying it's communism...or saying the mayor is a communist for considering it. My question? Isn't the fact that every man, woman, and child got $1200 check from the government more suggestive of, well, communism?

Political scientist here, but yeah using government funds to offset issues with the free market is absolutely textbook socialism. Masks on the other hand aren’t really any political ideology, it’s more of a cultural norm.

[Teo9969]

This shows a complete lack of knowledge about most countries in Europe. In many ways the population of countries like France, Spain, and Germany are way more diverse than in the US. The excuse-making for our lack of current leadership is lazy.

"In many ways" sounds a whole lot like "Technically you're correct, but I'm going to argue this anyway".

I don't know in what world any (central/western) European country is more diverse than the US. They're substantially whiter. They have long-standing traditions and buildings and places that are twice the age of the United States. They "came of age" at a time when the world was a smaller place. Their governmental systems have evolved over many centuries. The power structures in place have been there for ages. There are businesses that are over 1,000 years old.

All of those very strong roots lead to a more homogenous culture. This does not mean they're devoid of diversity - ethnic, cultural, political, or otherwise. What it means is they have a social contract that is nowhere near as bereft of continuity as that of the US. Ask 100 Americans what it means to be an American and you'd get dozens of unique answers. Ask 100 French people what it means to be French and I'm certain you would see quite ubiquitous answers.

I'd argue that much of the US's political strife in the last decade or so has to do with the fact that we're very much facing an identity crisis that has been brewing for centuries and brewing strong since the end of the civil war.

I remember talking with a Swedish expat while living in Argentina about western politics and specifically mentioned how Scandinavia has such a good reputation among American countries, particularly among the left-leaning individuals, and without being prompted, he said (paraphrasing) "Yeah, but the things we do would never work in the Americas because there are too many competing interests".

Like it or not, this impacts our agility in handling something like this. I 100% agree that we are failing and that much of the blame lay at the feet of our current leadership (state and federal). However, plenty of blame belongs to the system we've been building for the last 250 years. And if we do not recognize that now and make decisions as a collective entity about what we're going to change, then we're going to continue to be vulnerable to any threat that asks us to make collective decisions for the good of the collective. That belief has terrible compatibility with the broader American ethos.

[SoonersFan12]

Georgia has banned people from requiring masks, Georgia is a dumb state

[Bill Robertson]

Georgia has banned people from requiring masks, Georgia is a dumb state

At least we don’t have him as a governor. As bad as the decisions of ours have been.

[PoliSciGuy]

Further impact of the centralization of CDC data, from https://twitter.com/charlesornstein/...54463086481410

I had hoped it was a glitch, but no...The @CDCgov hospital capacity dashboard has gone dark. @CDCDirector has said CDC still has access to the data but apparently the public no longer does.

[Rover]

I

"In many ways" sounds a whole lot like "Technically you're correct, but I'm going to argue this anyway".

Nice spin, but in many ways MEANS in MANY WAYS. The American view of other countries homogenizes them in their mind. I spent a couple decades traveling and working with businesses in Europe, the Orient, South America, the Middle East, Oceana, and North Africa. I found None to be homogeneous and it is simplistic to think their citizens are the same and act in lockstep. That is a myopic sheltered American view.

[jerrywall]

Further impact of the centralization of CDC data, from https://twitter.com/charlesornstein/...54463086481410

Looks like it's coming back -

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/16/us-c...dc-to-hhs.html

When reached for comment Thursday by CNBC, HHS spokesman Michael Caputo said in a statement that CDC has been directed to make the data available again. He added that in the future, “more powerful insights” will be provided by HHS.

“Yes, HHS is committed to being transparent with the American public about the information it is collecting on the coronavirus,” he said. “Therefore, HHS has directed CDC to re-establish the coronavirus dashboards it withdrew from the public on Wednesday.”

BTW - When I looked at it yesterday, the boards weren't functioning, but the underlying data was still linked and downloadable. Not sure if that's the case today though.

[Rover]

Looks like it's coming back -

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/16/us-c...dc-to-hhs.html
When reached for comment Thursday by CNBC, HHS spokesman Michael Caputo said in a statement that CDC has been directed to make the data available again. He added that in the future, “more powerful insights” will be provided by HHS.

“Yes, HHS is committed to being transparent with the American public about the information it is collecting on the coronavirus,” he said. “Therefore, HHS has directed CDC to re-establish the coronavirus dashboards it withdrew from the public on Wednesday.”



.

This Caputo? Looks like he knows a lot about transparency. LOLOLOL

From Wikipedia:

Russian advisor and media consultant
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Caputo established residence in Russia in 1994.[7][4][8] He served as an adviser to Boris Yeltsin in 1995.[2] In his capacity as advisor to Yeltsin, he was employed with the United States Agency for International Development.[7][9][2] He served as president of The Florence Group from 1994 to 1999, and stated he "played a pivotal role in electing Boris Yeltsin to his second term as President of the Russian Federation."[10]

Caputo was employed by Moscow-headquartered subsidiary of Gazprom, Gazprom-Media.[11][9][8] He was contracted by Gazprom in 2000 to work for Russian leader Vladimir Putin.[7][9] His task was to increase Putin's public relations standing, specifically his support level in the U.S.[11][9][8] He moved back from Russia to the U.S. in the year 2000.[4]

After returning to the U.S., Caputo was called by his former mentor Roger Stone, who convinced him to move to Miami Beach, Florida, and then Caputo founded his media advising company Michael Caputo Public Relations.[4] Caputo moved back to Europe in 2007 while advising a politician's campaign for parliament in 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election.[4]

[Edmond Hausfrau]

Anyone know how many companies that took PPP $$ shut off their 401k matches to their employees? I know a few big ones got called out for it, just wondering how many locally might be doing the same thing.

[HangryHippo]

I know of one, but I think they're back now.

[Edmond Hausfrau]

One list shows both LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics have stopped matching funds, which is amazing if true, given the number of tests those same workers are processing.

[SoonersFan12]

At least we don’t have him as a governor. As bad as the decisions of ours have been.

That is true

[Anonymous.]

It will be interesting to see how oil and gas getting destroyed in 2020 will fair for Oklahoma money wise.

I wonder how broke this state would be after this year if it weren't for medical cannabis? It is booming so far in 2020 with so many established dispensaries and grow farms. I am thankful we have that coming in.


EDIT: For some reason I was thinking it was last year (2019) that we got Medical Marijuana, but it was actually 2018.

[FighttheGoodFight]

It will be interesting to see how oil and gas getting destroyed in 2020 will fair for Oklahoma money wise.

I wonder how broke this state would be after this year if it weren't for medical cannabis? The state got like $60MM+ and that was for less than half of 2019. It is booming so far in 2020 with so many established dispensaries and grow farms. I am thankful we have that coming in.

I'm not sure many states are going to come out of this well. Pretty much every state took a big hit in their industries.

[Dustin]

Not looking good.

Record Low for U.S. G.D.P. as Coronavirus Takes Huge Toll https://nyti.ms/3jWdfjp

[Teo9969]

And stocks are apparently up overnight over "huge earnings for tech companies".

As an example, Apple hasn't just returned to what it was at pre-covid levels, it's actually *up* 18% (and it's up 80% from the same time last year).

It's just so insane to see the S&P down a mere 5% when the actual economy is just getting hammered with no signs of quick return. Some stocks are just absolutely blowing up and my thinking is that just because people are changing their patterns now doesn't mean that these patterns are going to hold in any way.

It just seems like the only way you could see continued growth in the market at this point is a 3-5 year inflation window with inflation rates we haven't seen since the late 80s early 90s...otherwise, stocks are just creating a massive bubble while investors are playing hot potato. Obviously with all the QE, that's clearly a strong possibility, but I feel like it's going to be a few years down the road before we really see those effects. I don't know, it just seems like investors are being unbelievably short sighted in all of this.

[mugofbeer]

There are a few companies that definitely are insanely high but keep in mind that some companies have not been harmed by COVID but have actually benefitted. Once again, Amazon just benefits from everything.

[Bill Robertson]

There are a few companies that definitely are insanely high but keep in mind that some companies have not been harmed by COVID but have actually benefitted. Once again, Amazon just benefits from everything.

There are indeed companies and individuals who have benefited from the pandemic. My wife and I for one. I absolutely stay away, in all threads having to do with the virus, from saying anything about whether things should shut back down or not. Because I really don’t have a personal feel from experience of what the unemployed and suffering are going through. The most we’ve really done for anyone is picked up curbside a lot and tipped well when I normally might not have tipped at all for take out.

[Bill Robertson]

Duplicate

[Bill Robertson]

There are a few companies that definitely are insanely high but keep in mind that some companies have not been harmed by COVID but have actually benefitted. Once again, Amazon just benefits from everything.

There are indeed companies and personal who have benefits from the pandemic. My wife and I for one. I absolutely stay away, in all threads having to do with the virus, from saying anything about whether things should shut back down or not. Because I really don’t have a personal feel from experience of what the unemployed and suffering are going through. The most we’ve really done for anyone is picked up curbside a lot and tipped well when I normally might not have tipped at all for take out.

[TheTravellers]

There are a few companies that definitely are insanely high but keep in mind that some companies have not been harmed by COVID but have actually benefitted. Once again, Amazon just benefits from everything.

Amazon doesn't benefit from me, though I know it matters not a whit to them, but I'm done with them except for very specific things I can't get anywhere else for a reasonable price. Luckily I'm in a situation where I can afford to pay more to keep from using Amazon, or if the difference is too high, I just don't get the item unless it's absolutely, positively, 1000% necessary.

[mugofbeer]

I have nothing against Amazon. It just amazes me how many times they've found the pot of gold. I have a feeling there may be more pressure under the Dems to break them up.

[Bunty]

I have nothing against Amazon. It just amazes me how many times they've found the pot of gold. I have a feeling there may be more pressure under the Dems to break them up.

Amazon may be too big to break up. But Amazon with help from Wal-Mart drive out a lot of mom and pop type businesses. What's mostly left of them sell products and services Amazon and Wal-Mart doesn't get involved in, such as restaurants, salons, massage parlors, boot, saddle repair, med marijuana, pet clinics, job finders, realtors, self laundry and so forth. At least the list isn't short.

Since October sometimes works out as a, bad month for stocks, we'll find out by then if markets crash again, due to the virus continuing to be out of control, perhaps sooner.