On March 11 President gave a disastrous Oval Office address, NBA cancelled the season, Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson announced they were positive for COVID-19: next day many people stopped going anywhere. While ordinances & elite cues mattered, what mattered most: people were scared.
22 million would lose their job in next few weeks as people continued to be scared to do things. This was not really the choice of local/state politicians, this was The People. Every day that we cannot get economy going, short-term furloughs become permanent job losses.
Everyone wants US to go back to work: save jobs, get children to school, enjoy life again. But, The People shut down the economy, and The People are not going to get it going again until it is safe. If the government solves the health issue, The People will kick-start the economy
Due to relentless focus by Trump Regime on just opening the economy, without making it safe, they guaranteed the worst possible outcome: more deaths and longer closures. Again, the longer we close the more short-term furloughs become permanent job losses.
I am scared about what we will see in July numbers (announced August 7), but that just carries through mid-July as South & Southwest just starting to get it. Much more worried about August numbers that carry through mid-August which will reflect full impact of long-term job loss.
