Our ability to take care of each other with food, clothing, housing, security, health care, and basic government services is dependent on the capacity of the private sector to produce the goods and services that support every aspect of our lives. thehill.com/opinion/white-…
We have lost sight of a hard fact that even the most extreme measures taken cannot completely eradicate the coronavirus or create a situation with zero risks. We have to balance the risks to our health with the risks of an economic meltdown.
The only way this shutdown works is if it is brief. The federal government cannot print enough money to support an idle country.
We already had a planned $1 Trillion deficit likely this year before virus. With $2T relief bill and nearly $5T Fed is printing to prop up markets, likely dramatic drop in tax revenue, we could be looking at $6-10 Trillion in new debt.
This would dilute the value of the dollar. Many more dollars will be chasing fewer goods in a slow economy, raising the specter of historic levels of inflation.
Fed predicts as many as 47 million could lose their jobs in coming weeks (10 million have already). We cannot solve this by just printing $, if nearly 1 of 3 Americans is unemployed. If we do not act quickly to reopen our economy, this could be worse than the Great Depression.
