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This "economy is paused" idea is getting more and more unjustifiable by the day, weeks, and months. We're not going to emerge from this and just hit the unpaus

This "economy is paused" idea is getting more and more unjustifiable by the day, weeks, and months. We're not going to emerge from this and just hit the unpause button. Yes some industries will bounce back quickly, but 9 million people over two weeks losing their jobs is an absolutely massive number, and we haven't hit peak yet. There's no way they'll just be simply rehired when this is "done".

walkingolof 7y ago
What do you base that on?
pjc50 7y ago
Dead people can't go back to work.
- malandrew 7y ago
  But there will be a lot more job openings for those that can.
  - tathougies 7y ago
    Yeah, honestly, people always forget to note that the black plague resulted in significantly higher wages for peasants and artisans.
SketchySeaBeast 7y ago
If the economy bounced back to what it was on Feb 28th, what is your acceptable number of dead? Would you trade 9 million unemployed for 9 million dead? Do you think that wouldn't have an effect on the market as well? We're in it now, and no amount of wanting to hit the abort button will change anything. It's a fantasy to assume people will just go back to work, the economy will get better, and everything will return to normal, aside from a hot new opportunity for mass body disposal services.
- nck4222 7y ago
  >Would you trade 9 million unemployed for 9 million dead? No, I'm not advocating to abort a quarantine and have people return to work. >It's a fantasy to assume people will just go back to work, the economy will get better, and everything will return to normal Agreed. I'm advocating we stop believing in this fantasy and face reality that this is the start of a long term recession.
  - SketchySeaBeast 7y ago
    Gotcha, sorry, I read your comment as a "we all need to unpause and return to work" message, when it wasn't. This is definitely the start of interesting times - we don't know how things are going to look at the end of all this. The best economics times have come on the tail end of adversity.
    - blaser-waffle 7y ago
      > The best economics times have come on the tail end of adversity. That can be a long, long time too. The black plague was a boon for workers who survived it since the labor pool was small and consequently wages were higher. Plenty of free land, too. The downside was, you know, the black plague...
- treis 7y ago
  >If the economy bounced back to what it was on Feb 28th, what is your acceptable number of dead? Would you trade 9 million unemployed for 9 million dead? Do you think that wouldn't have an effect on the market as well? The vast majority of those dead are going to be 65+. Maybe I'm just feeling salty this morning, but considering how much that generation has stuck it to my generation I'm not even a little bit interested in trading economic collapse for their lives.
  - SketchySeaBeast 7y ago
    Is this sort of framing not a perfect example of cutting off your nose to spite your face?
rswail 7y ago
I don't think anyone serious thinks that this is just hitting "unpause" after this. The world has changed. This will be the news for the next 2 years. India and Africa are only just starting on this journey. The world's economy and every nation's economic structure will be completely changed.
majormajor 7y ago
Restaurant and event business was shrinking quickly before official shutdowns. You want all those jobs to come back, you have to bring back that demand. Good luck doing that before this is all over.

walkingolof 7y ago

What do you base that on?

pjc50 7y ago

Dead people can't go back to work.

malandrew 7y ago
But there will be a lot more job openings for those that can.
- tathougies 7y ago
  Yeah, honestly, people always forget to note that the black plague resulted in significantly higher wages for peasants and artisans.

SketchySeaBeast 7y ago

If the economy bounced back to what it was on Feb 28th, what is your acceptable number of dead? Would you trade 9 million unemployed for 9 million dead? Do you think that wouldn't have an effect on the market as well? We're in it now, and no amount of wanting to hit the abort button will change anything. It's a fantasy to assume people will just go back to work, the economy will get better, and everything will return to normal, aside from a hot new opportunity for mass body disposal services.

nck4222 7y ago
>Would you trade 9 million unemployed for 9 million dead? No, I'm not advocating to abort a quarantine and have people return to work. >It's a fantasy to assume people will just go back to work, the economy will get better, and everything will return to normal Agreed. I'm advocating we stop believing in this fantasy and face reality that this is the start of a long term recession.
- SketchySeaBeast 7y ago
  Gotcha, sorry, I read your comment as a "we all need to unpause and return to work" message, when it wasn't. This is definitely the start of interesting times - we don't know how things are going to look at the end of all this. The best economics times have come on the tail end of adversity.
  - blaser-waffle 7y ago
    > The best economics times have come on the tail end of adversity. That can be a long, long time too. The black plague was a boon for workers who survived it since the labor pool was small and consequently wages were higher. Plenty of free land, too. The downside was, you know, the black plague...
treis 7y ago
>If the economy bounced back to what it was on Feb 28th, what is your acceptable number of dead? Would you trade 9 million unemployed for 9 million dead? Do you think that wouldn't have an effect on the market as well? The vast majority of those dead are going to be 65+. Maybe I'm just feeling salty this morning, but considering how much that generation has stuck it to my generation I'm not even a little bit interested in trading economic collapse for their lives.
- SketchySeaBeast 7y ago
  Is this sort of framing not a perfect example of cutting off your nose to spite your face?

rswail 7y ago

I don't think anyone serious thinks that this is just hitting "unpause" after this. The world has changed. This will be the news for the next 2 years. India and Africa are only just starting on this journey. The world's economy and every nation's economic structure will be completely changed.

majormajor 7y ago

Restaurant and event business was shrinking quickly before official shutdowns. You want all those jobs to come back, you have to bring back that demand. Good luck doing that before this is all over.