Paul Krugman: How Many Will Die for the Dow?

[babylonsister]

How Many Will Die for the Dow?
In a pandemic, Trump is reverting to type.
By Paul Krugman
Opinion Columnist
May 21, 2020


In mid-March, after weeks in denial, Donald Trump finally admitted that Covid-19 was a serious threat and called on Americans to practice social distancing.

The delayed acknowledgment of reality — reportedly driven by concerns that admitting that the coronavirus posed a threat would hurt the stock market — had deadly consequences. Epidemiological modelers believe that tens of thousands of deaths might have been avoided if America had started lockdowns even a week earlier.

Still, better late than never. And for a little while it seemed as if we were finally settling on a strategy for containing the virus while also limiting the economic hardship caused by the lockdown.

But Trump and the Republican Party as a whole have now given up on that strategy. They won’t say this explicitly, and they’re throwing up various disingenuous explanations for what they’re doing, but their basic position is that thousands of Americans must die for the Dow.

What was the strategy Trump abandoned? It was the same strategy that has worked in other countries, from South Korea to New Zealand. First, use a lockdown to “crush the curve”: reduce the number of infected Americans to a relatively low level. Then combine gradual reopening with widespread testing, tracing of contacts after an infected individual is identified, and isolation of those who might spread the disease.

more...

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/21/opinion/trump-coronavirus-dow.html

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Y'know, I *may* end up living in poverty b/c of Trump and the Virus, but

I'll still be living . . . . . .

Let the shareholders adopt that concept.

[DBoon]

3. Poverty is bad mainly due to a lack of a social safety net

In any civilized first world country, poor citizens don't starve, don't live on the streets, and don't die because they can't afford medical care

[Hermit-The-Prog]

4. CEOs and traders won't like it if you're not consuming.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

2. The Moron and his minions have ensured devastation to the economy.

The same actions that would have saved tens of thousands of lives would have resulted in the least negative impact to economic activity. Republican toadies to trump were too cowardly to oppose his ignorant, incompetent, juvenile response.

Republicans are hazardous to your health.

[crickets]

6. This is what is so frustrating about the delayed and inept response.

Doing the right thing by citizens would have been better for the citizenry as a whole and the economy. It would have been a win-win. The knee jerk "screw 99% of the people in the country because we don't care about them" attitude guaranteed greater economic turmoil.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

7. He is so stupid, selfish, and incompetent he thought he could bluff a pandemic.

[DBoon]

5. The Aztecs sacrificed the lives of thousands for their gods

We have outdone them in many ways

They killed their victims quickly. We allow ours to suffocate to death.

They sacrificed so the sun would rise again. We sacrifice for the liquidity of the markets.

Their victims were honored. Ours are abandoned as losers.