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if only the government/bank could've put moratoriums top down, freezing all rent commercial and residential. We'd be in a much better place. Now we have econom

if only the government/bank could've put moratoriums top down, freezing all rent commercial and residential. We'd be in a much better place. Now we have economic collapse, 40 million looming evictions, people will starve, and freeze, or die in a shelter w/ the pandemic. Businesses are failing because they have to meet monthly recurring bills w/ or w/out actual sales receipts. They still need to meet payroll if they're even open. Could've been stopped from the lenders down, instead of try to just throw money every which direction and see which sticks. I'm for handouts for the poorest, but i think the other handouts were horribly done, and the loan program.

donor20 6y ago
I'm in the group of businesses that got handouts that the business didn't need to survive, but the handouts did mean folks were kept on staff even without work. This paid off big time for us (especially if covid had resolved by September) because we have seen demand pick back up pretty quickly in our space and the staff were ready to go. So if the downward trends had continued we'd have been in good shape and it would have been good timing. Of course, our covid control in the US has been a total disaster relatively to other much poorer countries even - we're still trying to figure out if masks are worth wearing (20 cents to maybe save a life). Instead of handouts the layoffs would have been a fine option, folks would have received unemployment. But the overhead and disruption of firing folks, canceling their benefits, and then re-hiring them (maybe) etc is not insignificant. The handouts meant we are ready to go once everything resolves which was supposed to be a lot sooner than it is looking like it will be.
- gremlinsinc 6y ago
  The problem is a lot of handouts didn't help anybody. Was just wasted, or bought like 2-3 months max. Now that's over with and there needs to be another, or a better idea... Alot of these businesses struggle because they have recurring bills: Rent, Mortgage, Utilities, etc... if all recurrables were 'frozen' or allowed 'pay what you want/can afford' then arguably everyone would be on better footing. E.g. Big bank has ten malls, Malls go to businesses and ask for rent, J.C. Penny's is like we can only pay 10%. Mall goes back to Big Bank and says our customers can only pay 10% each, so that's all we can pay. Bank's like sure w/e it's a crisis. Utitility companies, etc. same thing. Obviously there's other costs of business, but that would save a lot of the issues. Do the same of course for residential/renters as well, cause everybody is in the same boat. Then we'd need less stimulus $$. In other words try to make sure everyone's minimum (got the roof over my head) is met, and this would've been a good way to do that.
vkou 6y ago
> if only the government/bank could've put moratoriums top down, freezing all rent commercial and residential. We'd be in a much better place. This is exactly what I was saying in March, but everyone was too busy clutching their pearls, concerned about what will happen when pension funds lose a few percentage points of their value. Well, now they are going to lose a few percentage points of their value, in addition to society dealing with a tsunami of bankruptcies, on top of trillions of bailouts. And we're still early on in this epidemic.
- gremlinsinc 6y ago
  I don't see how it becomes a runaway train, esp. w/ the congressional gridlock we have now. There's no statesmanship, no concern for the people of America, just the top 1%, so they'll probably come out okay. They won't starve or be on bread-lines. Everyone else though will suffer tremendously. If all recurring payments just froze...for 1 year. If we locked down like Europe. We'd have had a better time. Now it's a shitfest just waiting. I'm certain some people who are wealthy/powerful see it for what it is, and also already have plans on how to become even richer/more powerful as a result.
  - dredmorbius 6y ago
    ...They won't starve or be on bread-lines.... There were miles-long food lines already by April: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/30/nyregion/coronavirus-nj-hunger.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/30/nyregion/coronavirus-nj-h... https://www.businessinsider.com/americans-wait-in-long-lines-at-food-banks-amid-coronavirus-2020-4?op=1 https://www.businessinsider.com/americans-wait-in-long-lines... https://www.motherjones.com/food/2020/04/these-photos-show-the-staggering-food-bank-lines-across-america/ https://www.motherjones.com/food/2020/04/these-photos-show-t... https://www.npr.org/2020/04/17/837141457/thousands-of-cars-line-up-at-one-texas-food-bank-as-job-losses-hit-hard https://www.npr.org/2020/04/17/837141457/thousands-of-cars-l...

donor20 6y ago

I'm in the group of businesses that got handouts that the business didn't need to survive, but the handouts did mean folks were kept on staff even without work. This paid off big time for us (especially if covid had resolved by September) because we have seen demand pick back up pretty quickly in our space and the staff were ready to go. So if the downward trends had continued we'd have been in good shape and it would have been good timing. Of course, our covid control in the US has been a total disaster relatively to other much poorer countries even - we're still trying to figure out if masks are worth wearing (20 cents to maybe save a life). Instead of handouts the layoffs would have been a fine option, folks would have received unemployment. But the overhead and disruption of firing folks, canceling their benefits, and then re-hiring them (maybe) etc is not insignificant. The handouts meant we are ready to go once everything resolves which was supposed to be a lot sooner than it is looking like it will be.

gremlinsinc 6y ago
The problem is a lot of handouts didn't help anybody. Was just wasted, or bought like 2-3 months max. Now that's over with and there needs to be another, or a better idea... Alot of these businesses struggle because they have recurring bills: Rent, Mortgage, Utilities, etc... if all recurrables were 'frozen' or allowed 'pay what you want/can afford' then arguably everyone would be on better footing. E.g. Big bank has ten malls, Malls go to businesses and ask for rent, J.C. Penny's is like we can only pay 10%. Mall goes back to Big Bank and says our customers can only pay 10% each, so that's all we can pay. Bank's like sure w/e it's a crisis. Utitility companies, etc. same thing. Obviously there's other costs of business, but that would save a lot of the issues. Do the same of course for residential/renters as well, cause everybody is in the same boat. Then we'd need less stimulus $$. In other words try to make sure everyone's minimum (got the roof over my head) is met, and this would've been a good way to do that.

vkou 6y ago

> if only the government/bank could've put moratoriums top down, freezing all rent commercial and residential. We'd be in a much better place. This is exactly what I was saying in March, but everyone was too busy clutching their pearls, concerned about what will happen when pension funds lose a few percentage points of their value. Well, now they are going to lose a few percentage points of their value, in addition to society dealing with a tsunami of bankruptcies, on top of trillions of bailouts. And we're still early on in this epidemic.

gremlinsinc 6y ago
I don't see how it becomes a runaway train, esp. w/ the congressional gridlock we have now. There's no statesmanship, no concern for the people of America, just the top 1%, so they'll probably come out okay. They won't starve or be on bread-lines. Everyone else though will suffer tremendously. If all recurring payments just froze...for 1 year. If we locked down like Europe. We'd have had a better time. Now it's a shitfest just waiting. I'm certain some people who are wealthy/powerful see it for what it is, and also already have plans on how to become even richer/more powerful as a result.
- dredmorbius 6y ago
  ...They won't starve or be on bread-lines.... There were miles-long food lines already by April: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/30/nyregion/coronavirus-nj-hunger.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/30/nyregion/coronavirus-nj-h... https://www.businessinsider.com/americans-wait-in-long-lines-at-food-banks-amid-coronavirus-2020-4?op=1 https://www.businessinsider.com/americans-wait-in-long-lines... https://www.motherjones.com/food/2020/04/these-photos-show-the-staggering-food-bank-lines-across-america/ https://www.motherjones.com/food/2020/04/these-photos-show-t... https://www.npr.org/2020/04/17/837141457/thousands-of-cars-line-up-at-one-texas-food-bank-as-job-losses-hit-hard https://www.npr.org/2020/04/17/837141457/thousands-of-cars-l...