US Approved Corvid Stimulus Package- Where's The Money

[GeoffH]

13 minutes ago, hk blues said:

Some guys I chat with in the UK say that a lockdown of 3 months or more is not beyond the realms of probability - could we survive that here? Could they survive that there?

I'm not an expert but it's taken Wuhan 8 weeks to remove some of the lockdown provisions and China have much harsher penalties with which to force compliance.

A typical western democracy with more freedom and looser controls upon it's citizens is going to struggle more to control movement of citizens and will probably need longer than that.

So... I don't think 3 months is at all unlikely personally,.  It might be less in a few countries like New Zealand which initiated lockdown very quickly when they had few cases and I worry that it will end up being longer in the USA where I suspect people will resist government control more.

A 3 month lockdown in the Philippines would only be sustainable with external help and support otherwise how do people eat?

Edited March 28, 2020 by GeoffH

[Arizona Kid]

7 minutes ago, GeoffH said:

I'm not an expert but it's taken Wuhan 8 weeks to remove some of the lockdown provisions and China have much harsher penalties with which to force compliance.

A typical western democracy with more freedom and looser controls upon it's citizens is going to struggle more to control movement of citizens and will probably need longer than that.

So... I don't think 3 months is at all unlikely personally,.  It might be less in a few countries like New Zealand which initiated lockdown very quickly when they had few cases and I worry that it will end up being longer in the USA where I suspect people will resist government control more.

A 3 month lockdown in the Philippines would only be sustainable with external help and support otherwise how do people eat?

Well said. Wherever this thing ends is  up in the air. Maybe the planet is tired of our bullsh%t. Total isolation, which might be the only way to survive won't last long. Maybe those survivalists that I used to watch on TV are smiling now when everyone else thought they were crazy!   

[GeoffH]

4 minutes ago, Arizona Kid said:

Maybe those survivalists that I used to watch on TV are smiling now when everyone else thought they were crazy!   

Oh yeah... there are already a few articles and interviews from some very smug looking survivalists doing the rounds.

I reckon the smarter ones are probably keeping a low profile right now though.

[Tommy T.]

An interesting thought that I have not seen vocalized yet??? 

So... who's going to pay for these massive payouts? Hmmmm???

Bill Gates? Warren Buffett? Jeff Bezos?? Our president? Nancy Pelosi? Chuck Shumer? Mitch McConnell? Vladimir Putin? Please enlighten me?

Ahhhh the taxpayers..... shhhhh still a secret...

 

Edited March 28, 2020 by Tommy T.

[scott h]

[Tommy T.]

2 hours ago, Arizona Kid said:

Well said. Wherever this thing ends is  up in the air. Maybe the planet is tired of our bullsh%t. Total isolation, which might be the only way to survive won't last long. Maybe those survivalists that I used to watch on TV are smiling now when everyone else thought they were crazy!   

I guess I am sort of smiling? Maybe just smirking... Sorry, AK...

[GeoffH]

37 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

So... who's going to pay for these massive payouts? Hmmmm???

Central banks can 'print money' to pay government debt.  I'm not saying that's a good idea in normal times because it tends to be highly inflationary and it causes the real value of the currency to drop.   Sometimes governments actually want that to happen though.

For those that don't realize "Quantitative Easing" is the electronic version of a central bank printing money (and most western economies are now doing it).

It's a bit of a problem for people holding a lot of cash because it reduces the real value of their cash holding and it's one reason (not the only one) why investers tend to move towards Gold and other fixed assets during quantitave easing periods.  Real Estate is another option and bonds have been in the past also.

I'm not suggesting anyone do any of that, I'm just saying that a government can give away as much cash as they like because they've got an unlimited supply... locally at least.  Paying international debts can be a different matter.

Edited March 28, 2020 by GeoffH

[Tommy T.]

2 minutes ago, GeoffH said:

I'm not suggesting anyone do any of that, I'm just saying that a government can give away as much cash as they like because they've got an unlimited supply... locally at least.  Paying international debts can be a different matter.

Ah... another reason people are hoarding toilet paper... Thanks Geoff!!!!

[Jollygoodfellow]

11 hours ago, roddavis said:

OMW, it will be cuz my 3 years up in Apr and have to make a BI run with wife/son and come back in Balikbayan!

That is normal but no late fees. They have already worked that out.

[Mike J]

10 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

An interesting thought that I have not seen vocalized yet??? 

So... who's going to pay for these massive payouts? Hmmmm???

Bill Gates? Warren Buffett? Jeff Bezos?? Our president? Nancy Pelosi? Chuck Shumer? Mitch McConnell? Vladimir Putin? Please enlighten me?

Ahhhh the taxpayers..... shhhhh still a secret...

 

As Geoff posted, the printing presses will start to roll in most countries and it will go into the books as IOUs and deficit spending.  In the USA at least current taxpayers will almost certainly NOT have to pay.  For years now government spending has increased while taxes have been decreased.  The deficit has been growing at an alarming rate and will now explode.  It will most likely be our children or grandchildren who will have to face the problems of our fiscal irresponsibility.