Refugees-us

In a just world, Japanese-Americans would not have been interred at the start of World War II.

In a just world, frightened folks from Central America would be welcomed to sanctuary at our southern border.

In a just world, refugees from New York would not be hunted down like slaves fleeing slavery when they left the city.

This isn't a just world.

I know, it's complicated.  I don't particularly want to see cars with New York license plates driving down my street right now.  But we're all in panic mode.

It would be easier to take the high ground had the government started developing testing modalities when they first learned of the plight of Wuhan.  Better still, the Chinese government might have let the world in on their little secret a bit earlier.  Had that occurred, however, I doubt our government would have acted any more quickly.

But just as we shouldn't be condemning our elderly to make the ultimate sacrifice (I've got plenty of skin in that game), neither should we condemn our northern neighbors for not wishing to make that same sacrifice.

I know, we all need to shelter in place.  But like those cruise ships at the start of this exercise in futility, we shouldn't expect everyone to stay put when the virus is knocking at their door.  There's probably a more humane solution than sending them back.

The Second Greatest Generation

Hey, Boomers, tired of living in the shadow of the Greatest Generation?

Now's the chance to make the supreme sacrifice for your country.

Ignore Covid-19 and get back out in society.  Quit your whining social distancing.  Put America back to work again.  Steepen that curve!

You may soon be dead, but you won't be forgotten for at least one news cycle.

You'll never be as Great as the Greatest Generation, but at least you won't be remembered as the Generation that Crashed the Economy.

Steepen the Curve

We're all hunkering down in an effort to "flatten the curve" of the novel coronavirus spread.  In order to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed, we're supposed to help spread  out the incidence of the disease to a manageable caseload.

This is entirely backwards, and points out one of the many failures of the American health care system.

What are the economic consequences of shutting down the economy?  Aside from the so-far-projected $80 billion bailout of the airline industry, what about the $1,000/month basic income payment to each adult for, say, four months.  There's another trillion dollars.  We've lost a few trillion in "vanished" wealth in the stock market.  There are plenty of other victim sectors - just how well is the gig economy going to recover?  Ready for another housing market foreclosure debacle?

Suppose, instead, we had EXCESS health system capacity to care for the whole shebang.  Sure, we'd have to have more hospitals, and more health care professionals, all of which would sit idle during health emergency down times.  Still ... one can imagine the total economic costs would be considerably lower.

It would still be reasonable for us older, more vulnerable geezers to keep a low profile.  Retirees not going to work isn't going to cause much of a hit to the system.

In any system, enabling sick people to stay home from work would be a productivity-enhancing policy.