A Stanford economist, Matthew Jackson, has grim outlook without FDR style programs
2020 is looking WORSE for jobs than the Great Depression
The US will likely surpass Great Depression-era unemployment rates this summer, and workers will need more than a $1,200 stimulus check to get through it, according to a Stanford University economist who studies financial networks.
Instead, the US needs a "New New Deal," or a set of expansive government programs and reforms to help cash-strapped, jobless Americans and struggling businesses, Matthew Jackson, Stanford economics professor and author of "The Human Network," told Business Insider.
"The very peak of the Great Depression was just under 25% unemployment rate. And that took several years to hit. If the [current] trend continues, we'll blow through that by the summertime," he said.
In less than one month, the coronavirus pandemic has displaced more than 10% of American workers. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis estimates that more than 47 million Americans could lose their jobs in the second quarter (between April and June), which would send the unemployment rate to a staggering 32%.
The past 2 months have proven, completely, that jobs are ONLY created by consumer demand, and disappear “like magic” when consumers do the unthinkable … stay home to avoid dying from a unique and new-to-humanity virus, and stop working to enrich the investor class.
Here’s a thought, because news reports are rife the past couple days about the food supply chain and pig and dairy farmers with animals they can’t send to slaughter or restaurant-level food chain suppliers… because the restaurants aren’t ordering because they don’t have enough customers.
1) Create jobs 2) Feed hungry families everywhere in America there is a local diner/restaurant 3) Most importantly, keep the food supply chain up and running 4) Prevent actual starvation by millions of people in These United StatesBecause what sense does it make for pig farmers to kill and bury their pigs because they can’t afford to keep feeding them, when people who thought they were comfortably middle class four months ago now find themselves in miles-long car lines to pick up food at a local food bank?
I just seriously want SOMEONE in the news industry to make the case NOW before it becomes invisible and thus no longer true to the masses that the 4 decade old idea from the conservatives about jobs and Tax Cuts to the wealthy & big corporations is made-up bullshit.
Tax Cuts to rich people or businesses DOES NOT CREATE ANY JOBS.
It just makes wealthy people wealthier, every gods-be-damned time Congress passes one of those Tax Cuts.
This Big Lie has been used to get approval from their constituents for these Tax Cuts for the wealthy for decades and it has to stop. If Congress didn’t give a tax cut to the wealthy for a decade, all those rich folks might find out they aren’t so fucking rich without their Uncle Sam throwing them some quatloos now and then.
The rest of us might find that there is actually plenty of money to fund robust social safety nets and higher education to the masses without tying them to a lifetime of student loan payments.
It IS that important that we use this moment in time to get this down for the television folk who have the shortest fucking memory in history (unless there is some handy video for proof), so that 2 or 20 years from now they won’t allow some conservative piker to come along and sing that “supply side” song and hypnotize the part of the population who is convinced that someday they will be rich.
Because sooner, much sooner than you or I would like, the call to “get back to business” will be so loud that even Governors with the best of intentions will give in at least a bit, to start, and allow some businesses to open with restrictions. While the rest of us wait around to find out if Wave Two of SARSCoV2 will be running thru our communities within 3 to 4 weeks.
Dateline May 11, 2020
At least 15 cases of the virus have been confirmed in Shulan, China, while in Seoul, South Korea, 35 new cases were linked to nightclubs.
New COVID-19 infections in China, South Korea raise alarm over second wave
Lockdowns have been reimposed by China and South Korea on Monday after a spike in new infections of the coronavirus is raising concern of a second wave of the pandemic.
At least 15 cases of the virus have been confirmed in Shulan, China, prompting officials to quarantine 290 people connected with the outbreak, enforce martial law and lock down the northeastern city.
The city was declared high-risk for the spread of the epidemic Sunday by the Jilin provincial government. Trains and vehicles, with the exception of emergency rescuers, have been barred from entry to the city.