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As is often the case, the problem is millions of millionaires instead of a handful of billionaires. There are 18.6 million millionaires in the US. If each of t
by dimva 6y ago
As is often the case, the problem is millions of millionaires instead of a handful of billionaires.
There are 18.6 million millionaires in the US. If each of them bought 10 n95 masks just in case, or for themselves + family + friends, that's 186 million masks. They could easily pay $20 / mask (that's only $200 per millionaire), which would significantly push up the cost to hospitals of acquiring masks.
Hospitals might not even be able to afford the masks they need. They are having budget shortfalls due to the ban on elective surgery. Cuomo was complaining about paying $7/mask, and NY state is going to have budget shortfalls as well due to the recession.
- AnthonyMouse 6y agoBut then you're still expecting something implausible to happen, because everybody knows there is a shortage of masks and they're needed by healthcare workers, so the chances that 100% of millionaires will disregard that and buy masks they don't need is negligible.
- auggierose 6y agoI guess you disregard the nature of millionaires :-D
- HideousKojima 6y agoThe majority of millionaires in the US are ordinary retirees who fully own their homes and have a decent amount in their 401k
- freejazz 6y agoI'm not sure what that has to do with them not buying masks
- WalterBright 6y agoExcept that has never happened.
- TheOtherHobbes 6y agoThat is absolutely factually wrong. Mask prices on Amazon were already inflated back in February, and stocks were already very low. But the most annoying thing about this thread is how it has turned into some kind of let's-forecast-the-markets game, instead of dealing with the underlying reality - that the markets failed to provide an essential good when it was needed, resulting in a significant number of avoidable deaths. There should be a special word for the moral delusion that markets exist in an abstract philosophical vacuum and price signals are somehow more important than people's lives.
- WalterBright 6y ago> Mask prices on Amazon were already inflated back in February, and stocks were already very low. Please cite evidence that this was "millions of millionaires" buying masks. When an oil refinery blows up and gas prices rise, that isn't evidence of millionaires hoarding, either. It's evidence of supply and demand at work.
- XorNot 6y agoYou're talking about $200 per person. This isn't even "millions of millionaires" territory. This is "most of the middle class of a country of 300 million people".
- DuskStar 6y ago> There should be a special word for the moral delusion that markets exist in an abstract philosophical vacuum and price signals are somehow more important than people's lives. From my perspective, there should be some word for the delusion that equitable distribution of a smaller, price-fixed supply is better than prioritized distribution of a larger, price-gouging supply. The lack of masks that not allowing higher prices causes is going to kill people, and you want to restrict the supply available to everyone in order to not be unfair to the poor?
- throwanem 6y ago
- altacc 6y agoI agree with you and would add that it's not just millionaires. People on median incomes are buying masks at these inflated prices from profiteers, so the market is massively inflated.