pbourke

59 ms·

661.
by pbourke 7y ago
In the absence of information there is abundant speculation. I remember Trump’s “parade of CEOs” speech, and how it was a glaring attempt to goose the market at the end of the week. Nothing of substance was announced, but the market shot up
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by pbourke 7y ago
There is a third way: bailouts are conditioned on the public or workers getting ownership stakes.
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by pbourke 7y ago
When presented with the opportunity to either accrue savings, reinvest in the business, or inflate the stock price the executives and boards of these companies chose the latter. This happened to also be a decision that benefited them person
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by pbourke 7y ago
> I wonder if all the companies that used their money for stock buybacks are kicking themselves in the foot right now. The outside shareholders of these companies: absolutely The executives and board: lol, no
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by pbourke 7y ago
> Continued stock market slides will cause politicians to panic and demand lifting of restrictions, even if they're the only thing helping right now. Or .. and hear me out .. we can ignore the fucking stock market and move to addres
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by pbourke 7y ago
> Apparently it doesn't, markets are down, in spite of the promise of infinite money. All of the funny money in the world won't answer these questions: 1. will a given firm exist in 12-24 months? 2. will anyone want to buy anyt
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by pbourke 7y ago
> This reads like someone unleashed GPT2 on a bunch of CNBC interviews with a bunch of hedge fund managers making the case for why their portfolio deserves a "fair share" of the bailout pie. I am struggling to see why you think
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by pbourke 7y ago
Yes, but perhaps not in the way that you might think. There were a number of structural factors that led to the great depression: gold standard currency and restrictive monetary policy at the Fed, overly restrictive tariff laws, simultaneou
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by pbourke 7y ago
I second learning to cook - it’s a skill valuable in good times and bad and really helps you to eat cheaply and healthily if you are mindful of your ingredients. There are tons of helpful videos to get you started. I recommend Bon Appétit’s
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by pbourke 7y ago
> You know what would be interesting? A Y Combinator or Hacker News bank DKSB - Dunning-Kruger State Bank
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by pbourke 7y ago
> the government of Czech Republic made masks (of any type, including self made or even scarfes) mandatory while out of home. That is an amazingly forward-thinking position that we should applaud. The mask thing will be one of those “obv
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by pbourke 7y ago
> We don’t actually know how lethal, but it appears 1%-3%, but without widespread testing we wouldn’t know. That’s the fatality rate within a functioning medical system. It’s safe to assume that if the virus is uncontrolled the rate will
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by pbourke 7y ago
Nobody is claiming that the government should run the factories directly. They should have showed up in early February at the ventilator and PPE factory doors with blank checks to ensure that output is ramped up to 11 immediately.
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by pbourke 7y ago
This is flippant pablum. The majority of voters did not choose the current administration.
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by pbourke 7y ago
Would private industry have won WW2 on its own, or put humans on the moon? That’s the level of commitment and organization that is now required. Private industry is great at many things, but sacrificing profit for a shared goal is not one o
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by pbourke 7y ago
There are some notable outliers, such as major Florida cities showing less of a drop (maybe due to Spring Break?) despite Florida having active cases and I believe a couple of deaths for over a week now.
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by pbourke 7y ago
The OpenTable data includes takeout and delivery. I think NYC actually might do a bit better than other markets, since there is a strong takeout and delivery culture with most restaurants below the fine dining level.
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by pbourke 7y ago
> he ability of my local Chinese place to serve customers is undiminished, my desire to eat Chinese food is undiminished, and all that's in the way is an ultimately temporary law. I have thought quite a bit about whether this situat
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by pbourke 7y ago
Now that events are cancelled and local businesses cease spending on ads, local media outlets will also start hurting. First local newspapers, then radio, eventually TV. The alt-weeklies in Seattle and Portland have already furloughed a lot
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by pbourke 7y ago
Even if the US had a magical force field that kept the virus out, it would still do a considerable amount of damage. The supply disruptions that hit China are now moving to the rest of the world. The largest companies in the US do a large a
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by pbourke 7y ago
> Last global pandemic of most compare - the Spanish Flu, we had a society that was savings conscious. Also a society that was emerging from WWI. The mindset was different.
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by pbourke 7y ago
> Can you explain how your job is directly related to the company's stock trading price? Not being sarcastic are something, just genuinely curious? It’s indirectly related through the executives who make decisions that are primarily
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by pbourke 7y ago
> For those of us outside the US/EU, can someone explain about the change in tone here on HN ? HN is being HN, for better or worse. First skepticism, then shallow takes, then acknowledgement and analysis, now frenzied problem solvin
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by pbourke 7y ago
Actually, we've implemented the New Great Depression. Remains to be seen how governments process and respond to it.
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by pbourke 7y ago
> Over the past couple of days the federal government has done more to try to fix the markets than they did during the entire housing crash, but compressing it all into a weekend. One minor point the Federal Reserve has pulled all of t
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by pbourke 7y ago
Also, residents of Point Roberts, WA who must drive through Canada to access the rest of Washington state.
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by pbourke 7y ago
If you do it properly (flattening the curve), it takes longer than getting hit with the full-height wave. You have to “keep your foot on the brakes” until the disease is no longer a threat. Take a look at countries where there is success -
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by pbourke 7y ago
Anything the fed does affects large and perhaps medium sized businesses directly. A couple of percent lower interest rate on their line of credit matters fuck all for small business facing a total collapse in demand. Same with SBA loans - h
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by pbourke 7y ago
The Alaska cruise season will likely not happen this year. The Canadian government has banned cruise ships from Canadian ports until 1 July. Legally, the foreign-flagged ships of major cruise lines must call at a foreign port between calls
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by pbourke 7y ago
It’s easier from a public reassurance standpoint to give a specific date that can be moved after everyone has adjusted to the situation rather than saying that everything is closed indefinitely.

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