Economic devastation looms on a Good Friday like no other

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By ARITZ PARRA and ELENA BECATOROS

MADRID (AP) — Christians around the world observed a Good Friday like no other, at home watching livestreams instead of at church, as pressure mounted on governments to restart some industries and fend off further economic devastation from the coronavirus.

Worldwide, the death toll closed in on 100,000, with the confirmed number of infected topping 1.6 million, according to Johns Hopkins University. The true numbers are believed to be much higher because of limited testing, different rules for counting the dead and cover-ups by some governments.

In addition to the lives lost, the pandemic has slammed economies around the world. The head of the International Monetary Fund has warned that the global economy is headed for the worst recession since the Depression. The U.N. labor organization said 195 million full-time jobs could be lost in the second quarter alone.

In Europe, the 19 countries that use the euro currency overcame weeks of bitter divisions to agree on spending $550 billion to cushion the recession caused by the virus. Mario Centeno, who heads the eurozone finance ministers’ group, called the package “totally unprecedented. ... Tonight Europe has shown it can deliver when the will is there.”



Priest Frank Heidkamp talks to believers in their cars prior a Good Friday church service at a drive-in cinema when all German churches are closed for worships due to the coronavirus outbreak in Duesseldorf, Germany, Friday, April 10, 2020. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)


Read more: https://apnews.com/8233264cd1a25eb2e583ef9f5e4f8d37

[jimfields33]

1. Hard to believe all of Europe is only spending 550 billion

We are up to six trillion already....if counting all 3 bills passed. And congress wants more!!!!

[gab13by13]

3. Are you counting the Fed and Central banks?

[Igel]

8. Don't overlook things that are backgrounded.

"Companies, continue to pay your employees. We'll reimburse you."

It's not like you local business with 10 employees has the cash sitting around to pay all their workers for 3 months.

It's often not what you know that matters, it's the things you don't know and that you're unaware of knowing that matter. It's had to base opinions on things you don't even know you could know.

The best you can do is always question if what you know is accurate and correct--regardless of where it comes from--and think of alternative explanations. You need to look for cracks in knowledge and understanding, questions that your information doesn't cover, places where it seems to conflict with other things or go fuzzy and not quite make sense or fit. (And it really helps to keep track of kinds of knowledge--observation? report of observation? implication? inference? assumption--and if so, how likely?)

[enid602]

9. inflation

Trump actually spent a trillion in 2018 trying to prop up the bond market. And another trill in 2019. Plus this 7 or so trill in 2020. He's just printing money.

[AllaN01Bear]

2. if business is restarted, we are going to suffer .

liked the drive in church/

[yaesu]

4. its a GOOD Friday only for the bailed out wall street banksters & the tRumpster elite. nt

[George II]

5. For some reason I think the Good Friday 2000 years ago was like no other.

[Lulu KC]

10. Good one

Kind of hard to top it!

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. What a weird peg for an economic story.

[bucolic_frolic]

7. People ignored risk

The Social Welfare State as been bludgeoned by neoliberal policies in many countries. Governments and households and individuals are saddled with debt. It's not a model for self-sufficiency and durability for working people. It's a subsistence life where borrowing funds the big ticket items and enslaves borrowers to lenders. Any disruption to the system or cash flow is fatal.

[ProfessorGAC]

11. You Forgot Big Businesses

My final advanced degree was an MBA completed in 1996.
At that time debt/equity for a mid size to large firm was 1.15 or less, absent high volume, high capital investment durable goods. Anything under 1.8 was good.
The industrial average(!) now is 1.5, and GM is at 2.7, while Ford is at 4.5.
Operations & growth are heavily dependent on debt.

[bucolic_frolic]

12. Yes, true all that

I think we were taught optimal debt for stock valuation at 70% of capitalization. It was considered foolish to carry no debt.

[ProfessorGAC]

13. I Recall The Same

Of course, Apple would laugh at them now. But, they needed to borrow in the earlier years.
70% is what I recall being good. 50% or less was excellent as long as it didn't crimp cash flow.

[CrispyQ]

14. I read an article some time after the crash of 2008 that said,

Americans are trinket rich but equity poor. We have credit to buy new electronics, furniture, and cars, but no equity in our houses or savings accounts.

They busted the labor unions and replaced good wages with easy credit and now we're a nation of debt slaves. They also turned everything into a for-profit endeavor, education, health care. Too many Americans fell for the "government should be run like a business" bullshit, and too many Americans don't seem to get the contradiction of voting for candidates who openly disdain government. WTF?

[bucolic_frolic]

16. All true

The path to personal finance is not a joyride. Don't borrow and get good value for your money. Paying $795k for a house built on land and materials worth $398k is not a good start in life, but it's tempting to young folks. They don't know the bank and the builder split the other $400k, and in 30 years the value is unpredictable.

The purpose of college was supposed to be to invest $x and earn an extra $300-400k over a lifetime. Now we're spending $10x and there is a glut of graduates. The 10% of success stories are examples. Some never find a career. Working to age 25 and investing every nickel in top tech companies is a more predictable financial plan, with greater upside.

[Steelrolled]

15. News outlets have to get out their doomsday stories while they can.

This isn't going to last forever.