What happens if our leaders "open up" the economy and nobody comes?

[Laelth]

At present, the only Republican plan that I can discern to address the economic fallout from the Coronavirus is to “open up” the economy—whatever that means. They blame our current economic misery on various states and municipalities that have enacted stay-at-home orders. This approach is foolish, at best.

We can eliminate state and locally mandated stay-at-home orders all we want, and it won’t change a thing. Most Americans are sane and don’t want to die. Business owners are already saying thanks, but no thanks, to Republican suggestions that they reopen. Why? It’s because they’re not stupid, and they know that it would be a losing proposition for them to reopen without enough patrons to support the cost of running their businesses. They could care less whether stay-at-home orders are in place. Eliminate them all, and nothing will change. For the foreseeable future, most Americans are staying home, like it or not.

The results look pretty catastrophic.

Unemployment is already higher than it has ever been since the Great Depression. Supposedly, we’re somewhere between 15-20% at this EARLY STAGE of our looming depression. At the height of the Great Depression unemployment hit 25%.

Oil is effectively free on the market at this point. Petrochemicals are an enormous segment of the American economy, and the petrochemical industry is on the verge of collapse because nobody wants to buy their products (supply has far outstripped demand). The American petrochemical industry may lose 100,000 jobs if something doesn’t change soon.

Las Vegas is effectively dead. Tourism, in general, is nearly dead as are our airlines. Our economy is in seriously bad shape.

Given this state of affairs, a GREAT DEPRESSION seems quite likely to me. Our alleged leaders can call for the economy to “reopen” all they want. At this point, the American people aren’t showing up for the party. No way. We don’t want to die.

-Laelth