[OutsiderFan]

The irony is the GOP whines about the threat of socialism when the reality is we right now have an entire economy being propped up by government spending and Federal Reserve purchasing assets as a buyer of last resort. What happens when the Fed printing press stops?  How many companies and jobs will be lost then?

Well, the GOP isn't wrong.  Don't forget, we'll have the representative of the Progressives coming into office, voted in in November, then taking office in January.  Too many people will be hurting, and not only will there be an economy to save, but there will be wrongs to be righted -- I don't know which ones and to what extent, but I believe the left views this as a grand opportunity to remake society.  And society may be so shredded from the effects of COVID-19, that we may have to do so.

Well, the reality is we don't need to make THAT many changes to have a giant impact because we already have so many systems and programs in place that are popular. Increasing SS contributions by 1% can have a gigantic impact on SS solvency. Changing the tax code to incentivize clean energy production not only reduces carbon emissions and creates new jobs, it also improves health and reduces what we have to spend on healthcare. One hidden reality of our economic collapse that most people aren't aware of is the fact the fossil fuel industry is really struggling mightily right now.  It is leveraged to its eyeballs in debt and there isn't enough demand to generate revenue from operation needed to be profitable. We'll have a choice.  We can either bail out the fossil fuel industry or we can invest in clean or cleaner energy instead, and let the fossil fuel companies and investors get crushed. Given funds like Blackrock are no longer supporting fossil fuel companies, and the world has come to realize the perils of climate change on bottom lines, the choice seems obvious.

The Covid-related losses are going to continue piling up even when virus is under control because there is so much debt that must be unwound, written off, and so many more business failures to come. My guess is you are correct that the public will embrace a big plan of action to get us all rowing in the same direction as a country when the final damage is all added up. 

We haven't even started discussing the cost of dealing with Covid-19 infections on the health care system and opportunity cost on economy. The average hospital bill for those requiring hospital stay is between $34k-$45k. If no insurance it averages $73k. A total bill of $546 Billion to payers was projected in June, based on data mostly through May.  It's way past this now given the July spike. People can blithely say "it's' no big deal," but think how nearly a Trillion dollars of money spent on treating those sick with this virus might help the economy.
https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/ne...arying-age

[OutsiderFan]

The irony is the GOP whines about the threat of socialism when the reality is we right now have an entire economy being propped up by government spending and Federal Reserve purchasing assets as a buyer of last resort. What happens when the Fed printing press stops?  How many companies and jobs will be lost then?

Well, the GOP isn't wrong.  Don't forget, we'll have the representative of the Progressives coming into office, voted in in November, then taking office in January.  Too many people will be hurting, and not only will there be an economy to save, but there will be wrongs to be righted -- I don't know which ones and to what extent, but I believe the left views this as a grand opportunity to remake society.  And society may be so shredded from the effects of COVID-19, that we may have to do so.

Well, the reality is we don't need to make THAT many changes to have a giant impact because we already have so many systems and programs in place that are popular. Increasing SS contributions by 1% can have a gigantic impact on SS solvency. Changing the tax code to incentivize clean energy production not only reduces carbon emissions and creates new jobs, it also improves health and reduces what we have to spend on healthcare. One hidden reality of our economic collapse that most people aren't aware of is the fact the fossil fuel industry is really struggling mightily right now.  It is leveraged to its eyeballs in debt and there isn't enough demand to generate revenue from operation needed to be profitable. We'll have a choice.  We can either bail out the fossil fuel industry or we can invest in clean or cleaner energy instead, and let the fossil fuel companies and investors get crushed. Given funds like Blackrock are no longer supporting fossil fuel companies, and the world has come to realize the perils of climate change on bottom lines, the choice seems obvious.

The Covid-related losses are going to continue piling up even when virus is under control because there is so much debt that must be unwound, written off, and so many more business failures to come. My guess is you are correct that the public will embrace a big plan of action to get us all rowing in the same direction as a country when the final damage is all added up. 

We haven't even started discussing the cost of dealing with Covid-19 infections on the health care system and opportunity cost on economy. The average hospital bill for those requiring hospital stay is between $34k-$45k. If no insurance it averages $73k. A total bill of $546 Billion to payers was projected in June, based on data mostly through May.  It's way past this now given the July spike. People can blithely say "it's' no big deal," but think how nearly a Trillion dollars of money spent on treating those sick with this virus might help the economy.
https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/ne...arying-age