[2006alum]

The sanctimony in these parts is astounding.

To 2006, it's mighty convenient (and I believe counter-intuitive) for you to argue that the economy is hosed no matter what because people are scared, they won't go out anyway, etc.  First of all, I'm in the "every little bit" helps camp (as I suspect you are when it comes to taking precautions that might have no efffect on transmission - i.e., wearing masks outside while being socially distant).  Moreover, if it's true that people are scared and won't go out, then lifting SiP should cause very little increased risk overall, and certainly with respect to Hospital Armageddon.

Teej, do me a favor in the future and rather than paraphrase me, quote me directly -- I suspect that if you had, you'd find that what I actually said is quite different than what you are claiming. 

For one thing, my only two contributions to this thread have nothing to do with whether "reopening" the economy is futile, so I'm not even sure who you think you're responding to in this thread, but it ain't me. 

For another, I've never said the economy is hosed no matter what. What I've said is that if a significant % of Americans don't feel comfortable resuming normal activities, debates about whether state and local governments should lift their SiP orders is somewhat missing the point. Most businesses can't survive with 70-80% of ordinary demand without significant layoffs, cost cutting, etc. So my suspicion is that folks are being way too overly optimistic about what will happen once SiP orders are lifted. And, relatedly, I think the focus should be on determining what it is that most Americans will need to see put into place to feel comfortable going back to their prior consumption patterns, and figuring out how to support (especially small) businesses that may need to operate at 50-80% of capacity for the foreseeable future. 

In the medium to long term, those questions, to me, are much more important than these fatuous, circular, and fruitless debates about the economy vs. lives.

[2006alum]

The sanctimony in these parts is astounding.

To 2006, it's mighty convenient (and I believe counter-intuitive) for you to argue that the economy is hosed no matter what because people are scared, they won't go out anyway, etc.  First of all, I'm in the "every little bit" helps camp (as I suspect you are when it comes to taking precautions that might have no efffect on transmission - i.e., wearing masks outside while being socially distant).  Moreover, if it's true that people are scared and won't go out, then lifting SiP should cause very little increased risk overall, and certainly with respect to Hospital Armageddon.

Teej, do me a favor in the future and rather than paraphrase me, quote me directly -- I suspect that if you had, you'd find that what I actually said is quite different than what you are claiming. 

For one thing, my only two contributions to this thread have nothing to do with whether "reopening" the economy is futile, so I'm not even sure who you think you're responding to in this thread, but it ain't me. 

For another, I've never said the economy is hosed no matter what. What I've said is that if a significant % of Americans don't feel comfortable resuming normal activities, debates about whether state and local governments should lift their SiP orders is somewhat missing the point. Most businesses can't survive with 70-80% of ordinary demand without significant layoffs, cost cutting, etc. So my suspicion is that folks are being way too overly optimistic about what will happen once SiP orders are lifted. And, relatedly, I think the focus should be on determining what it is that most Americans will need to see put into place to feel comfortable going back to their prior consumption patterns, and figuring out how to support (especially small) businesses that may need to operate at 50-80% of capacity for the foreseeable future. 

In the medium to long term, those questions, to me, are much more important than these fatuous, circular, and fruitless debates about the economy vs. lives.