panic??

[Carcounter]

The rest of the world will be more careful in dealing with China in the future.

[notes1]

The rest of the world will be more careful in dealing with China in the future.

let's hope so.

[notes1]

the government (including trump administration) is proposing a variety of taxpayer funded (borrowed) monies to be given to individuals and businesses.

regarding individuals, i hope this is tightly monitored and the checks only go to folks who are actually losing a paycheck, due to virus concerns. if one has vacation/sick time available, if they still going to get paid from employer (including all gov't workers), these folks should not get free money. i remember when BUSH gave everyone $500, there were countless stories of folks getting tattoos and other purchases that taxpayers should not be funding.

regarding businesses, the monies should be limited to companies that have actually paid taxes in previous years and require any company that gets any money to suspend all dividend payments and stock repurchases, until loan paid back in full.

[FAA]

RCP is one hell of a dense home page!

[tech58]

FAA, i also had trouble finding the Hanson articles but it was worth the effort.

[notes1]

a consumer (spending) driven economy and we are all being told to stay at home. result;
-greatly reduced spending
-mass layoffs/firings
-those who live paycheck to paycheck cannot pay their bills
- reduced corporate profits, stock prices fall
-individuals and companies unable to make their debt payments, bond values drop
-bailout and loan guarantees to save the economy. more money that the country needs to borrow/print
-with reduced corporate profits, no more stock buy back programs, hurts stock prices
-fear causes the consumer to go to the mattresses, hurts the economy even more
-the FED reacts by lowering interest rates, again hurting savers.
-seniors, who have money, are forced to invest in riskier assets or accept lower returns on savings. as a result, they reduce their spending, again hurting the economy

the virus has certainly been a big factor, but the problem is much deeper. too much debt, too much cheap money that leads to bad habits and not enough people saving for the future/rainy day.

[notes1]

if one wants to read about the possible source of the virus, google 'CHINA'S WET MARKETS'. easy to see how disease could spread in such a horrible place.

[Carcounter]

FAA, i also had trouble finding the Hanson articles but it was worth the effort.

I agree Tech. VDH is my favorite columnist. He breaks things down logically to the point where you can't argue with him. If you google him, you can access his archives.

[tech58]

Thanks Car, for the tip on the archives, sounds like a treasure trove of good reading material.
He seems to be a rare gem in the utter wasteland of media garbage.

[notes1]

i think we are getting closer to the point of shutting down the entire country.

a month or so ago, oil was priced at about $55 barrel, current price...$22.