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I’ve been thinking a lot about whether the correct way to think about it is more of a “reset” than a “recovery”. So much about what we are doing with the econom

I’ve been thinking a lot about whether the correct way to think about it is more of a “reset” than a “recovery”. So much about what we are doing with the economy right now seems theoretical that it’s hard for me to think about it any other way.

cl42 6y ago
Interesting idea! How would you differentiate between the two? I guess with a reset, you stop everything, turn it all off, and turn it back on. Is that what you mean?
- ianai 6y ago
  Well a reset means offline for some extent. People sure are taking advantage of opportunities that only arise when things are nearly offline. Lots of (needed) road work on high traffic roads where I live, for instance.
  - cl42 6y ago
    I wish that were the case here. I think cannabis and alcohol sales are up 10x, but no road work getting done. :)
    - netjiro 6y ago
      High unemployment periods should be used to build common infrastructure. Electricity, water, roads, rail, airports, etc.
      - cl42 6y ago
        100% agree with you.
- ken 6y ago
  I don't think "reset" was meant in the computer sense of "turn it off and on again". I think the implication is that our financial indicators have outrun the actual state of the economy. We're resetting in the sense that we're forcing the indicators to match reality again. To recover would mean the numbers would go back to where they were before, which isn't going to happen.
  - cl42 6y ago
    Oh, that's a much more eloquent interpretation. Also a bit scary, but I think you're right.
- wegs 6y ago
  Well, the goal of an economy is to (1) Keep people working productively (2) To distributes the fruits of production equitably. What constitutes productive work is disputed, of course. Most people agree growing food and teaching kids is productive work. Most people agree selling narcotics or a crime ring is not productive. A lot of work (advertising, the financial sector, many types of legal work, some types of management, drilling for oil, prostitution, etc.) are areas where reasonable people disagree. There is a lot of stuff to definition of equitable too: Who plays the capitalist game best? Who produces the most value? Based on need? Who works the hardest? Capitalism and money is an accounting scheme to make that happen. It's far from optimal, but it's the best algorithm we've got. A reset could mean: (1) We forget all debt. We give everyone the means of production they're currently using. We start all bank accounts back at a common value. We resume from there. (2) We put a new system in place to replace capitalism, and we pray it works better. (3) We unwind debts and bank accounts to where they were in January 2020. We start from there. It's just bits on computers. (4) Etc. I don't think the recovery model ever had legs. The suspend/restart model could have worked in March, perfectly cleanly, but we're past that point now. We've gone to where we'll either have major problems for a few years, or some kind of major out-of-the-box solution like a reset.

cl42 6y ago

Interesting idea! How would you differentiate between the two? I guess with a reset, you stop everything, turn it all off, and turn it back on. Is that what you mean?

ianai 6y ago
Well a reset means offline for some extent. People sure are taking advantage of opportunities that only arise when things are nearly offline. Lots of (needed) road work on high traffic roads where I live, for instance.
- cl42 6y ago
  I wish that were the case here. I think cannabis and alcohol sales are up 10x, but no road work getting done. :)
  - netjiro 6y ago
    High unemployment periods should be used to build common infrastructure. Electricity, water, roads, rail, airports, etc.
    - cl42 6y ago
      100% agree with you.
ken 6y ago
I don't think "reset" was meant in the computer sense of "turn it off and on again". I think the implication is that our financial indicators have outrun the actual state of the economy. We're resetting in the sense that we're forcing the indicators to match reality again. To recover would mean the numbers would go back to where they were before, which isn't going to happen.
- cl42 6y ago
  Oh, that's a much more eloquent interpretation. Also a bit scary, but I think you're right.
wegs 6y ago
Well, the goal of an economy is to (1) Keep people working productively (2) To distributes the fruits of production equitably. What constitutes productive work is disputed, of course. Most people agree growing food and teaching kids is productive work. Most people agree selling narcotics or a crime ring is not productive. A lot of work (advertising, the financial sector, many types of legal work, some types of management, drilling for oil, prostitution, etc.) are areas where reasonable people disagree. There is a lot of stuff to definition of equitable too: Who plays the capitalist game best? Who produces the most value? Based on need? Who works the hardest? Capitalism and money is an accounting scheme to make that happen. It's far from optimal, but it's the best algorithm we've got. A reset could mean: (1) We forget all debt. We give everyone the means of production they're currently using. We start all bank accounts back at a common value. We resume from there. (2) We put a new system in place to replace capitalism, and we pray it works better. (3) We unwind debts and bank accounts to where they were in January 2020. We start from there. It's just bits on computers. (4) Etc. I don't think the recovery model ever had legs. The suspend/restart model could have worked in March, perfectly cleanly, but we're past that point now. We've gone to where we'll either have major problems for a few years, or some kind of major out-of-the-box solution like a reset.