6 ms·

Any form of profiteering in a crisis such as this should result in massive fines and prison time, in war time I believe firing squads were in order.

by boznz 7y ago

dahdum 7y ago
How exactly is this profiteering? They aren't demanding extra money or marking services up. They're at a high risk of bankruptcy themselves.
- echelon 7y ago
  Businesses were told to close by the government to prevent spread of the virus, thus effectively shutting off their income. The government should shut off rent income, too. And mortgage payments. We're in survival mode. Nobody gets to make any money right now. We have to wait for the recovery to begin.
  - SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
    How are people going to obtain goods and services if they're not making any money? I suppose we could bootstrap a temporary command economy, but that seems very challenging and such economies don't have a great track record.
    - echelon 7y ago
      A few key businesses can be carved out as exceptions. It's not a hard and fast rule - we have to be pragmatic. People can't starve. You shouldn't require businesses to pay mortgages or rent. This is where the government needs to step in and provide guidance, leadership, and subsidies. It's pretty clear we're headed for a recession at this point. Forgiving debts could help reprime the system.
      - SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
        Right, that's what I would refer to as a "command economy": an economy where the government cancels broad categories of monetary flows and substitutes itself as an arbiter of who should do what work. I don't think the government would be good enough at central planning for that strategy to help.
    - pjc50 7y ago
      Income from labour is shut down for some entire professions. It's time for those making their income from capital to be furloughed as well. If they have no income they are entitled to the same benefits as the restaurant staff.
  - kfrzcode 7y ago
    > Nobody gets to make any money right now. This is a fantasy, and will never, ever happen... At least in the United States.
    - williamdclt 7y ago
      Strong assumption. "Never ever" is a long time for one of the youngest countries in the world.
    - paulie_a 7y ago
      People are living in a fantasy world if they don't comprehend how big this is..the concept of getting back to normal in a couple months is completely delusional.
      - SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
        Frankly, the concept of not getting back to normal in a couple months is delusional. The idea that people will just stay shut up in their houses indefinitely, as the threat statistically diminishes and the overwhelmed hospitals fade into memory, is the worst kind of spherical cow theorizing.
        paulie_a 7y ago
        I don't think people are really thinking about the magnitude of what's happening. Stastically the threat is not diminishing but expanding rapidly. By the end of the day another 1000 people will have died. Yes people will stay shut in their house because that choice has been removed
  - matwood 7y ago
    What happens to the people living on fixed income from the dividends of those bonds backed by those mortgages? This is why I think some of the European countries have the right idea. Don't stop people from paying rent or mortgages, instead give all those who lost their jobs some percentage of their income until this is over. This lets people continue paying their bills so all of the second, third, and forth order effects keep happening. It's like the pig farmer story out of Las Vegas. Once the strip shut down along with all the buffets, the local pig farms lost their primary source of food (buffet throwaway). Now the farmers are struggling to find enough food which may end up impacting the pork market.
    - xxpor 7y ago
      What happens to the bondholders when the landlords evict the restaurants for not paying rent, thereby guaranteeing there won't be rental income for a year+? Someone's going to have to suck it up. In this case, it is the bondholders. It's not a risk free investment.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
zraako 7y ago
Not usually a fan but starting to understand why Mao went so salty on landlords now
- paulie_a 7y ago
  Moa probably has a lot of fans, left. He killed the rest. 9-10x of Hitler.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
dang 7y ago
Please don't post unsubstantive comments and/or flamebait to HN. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Any form of profiteering in a crisis such as this should result in massive fines and prison time, in war time I believe firing squads were in order.

by boznz 7y ago

Any form of profiteering in a crisis such as this should result in massive fines and prison time, in war time I believe firing squads were in order.

dahdum 7y ago

How exactly is this profiteering? They aren't demanding extra money or marking services up. They're at a high risk of bankruptcy themselves.

echelon 7y ago
Businesses were told to close by the government to prevent spread of the virus, thus effectively shutting off their income. The government should shut off rent income, too. And mortgage payments. We're in survival mode. Nobody gets to make any money right now. We have to wait for the recovery to begin.
- SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
  How are people going to obtain goods and services if they're not making any money? I suppose we could bootstrap a temporary command economy, but that seems very challenging and such economies don't have a great track record.
  - echelon 7y ago
    A few key businesses can be carved out as exceptions. It's not a hard and fast rule - we have to be pragmatic. People can't starve. You shouldn't require businesses to pay mortgages or rent. This is where the government needs to step in and provide guidance, leadership, and subsidies. It's pretty clear we're headed for a recession at this point. Forgiving debts could help reprime the system.
    - SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
      Right, that's what I would refer to as a "command economy": an economy where the government cancels broad categories of monetary flows and substitutes itself as an arbiter of who should do what work. I don't think the government would be good enough at central planning for that strategy to help.
  - pjc50 7y ago
    Income from labour is shut down for some entire professions. It's time for those making their income from capital to be furloughed as well. If they have no income they are entitled to the same benefits as the restaurant staff.
- kfrzcode 7y ago
  > Nobody gets to make any money right now. This is a fantasy, and will never, ever happen... At least in the United States.
  - williamdclt 7y ago
    Strong assumption. "Never ever" is a long time for one of the youngest countries in the world.
  - paulie_a 7y ago
    People are living in a fantasy world if they don't comprehend how big this is..the concept of getting back to normal in a couple months is completely delusional.
    - SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
      Frankly, the concept of not getting back to normal in a couple months is delusional. The idea that people will just stay shut up in their houses indefinitely, as the threat statistically diminishes and the overwhelmed hospitals fade into memory, is the worst kind of spherical cow theorizing.
      - paulie_a 7y ago
        I don't think people are really thinking about the magnitude of what's happening. Stastically the threat is not diminishing but expanding rapidly. By the end of the day another 1000 people will have died. Yes people will stay shut in their house because that choice has been removed
- matwood 7y ago
  What happens to the people living on fixed income from the dividends of those bonds backed by those mortgages? This is why I think some of the European countries have the right idea. Don't stop people from paying rent or mortgages, instead give all those who lost their jobs some percentage of their income until this is over. This lets people continue paying their bills so all of the second, third, and forth order effects keep happening. It's like the pig farmer story out of Las Vegas. Once the strip shut down along with all the buffets, the local pig farms lost their primary source of food (buffet throwaway). Now the farmers are struggling to find enough food which may end up impacting the pork market.
  - xxpor 7y ago
    What happens to the bondholders when the landlords evict the restaurants for not paying rent, thereby guaranteeing there won't be rental income for a year+? Someone's going to have to suck it up. In this case, it is the bondholders. It's not a risk free investment.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

zraako 7y ago

Not usually a fan but starting to understand why Mao went so salty on landlords now

paulie_a 7y ago
Moa probably has a lot of fans, left. He killed the rest. 9-10x of Hitler.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

dang 7y ago

Please don't post unsubstantive comments and/or flamebait to HN. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html