Ahead of the game @Lazarus 
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Well played @Mac. I was management level then, the one thing I forgot to factor in before getting my own shop was a global pandemic. We live and we learn
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You’ll come out the other side of this too.
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US GDP crashed (33%) in Q2, the largest drop on record. For context, the peak to trough drop from 2007 to 2009 was (4%), and the peak to trough from 1929 to 1933 was (30%). We are now officially beyond the great depression in terms of economic collapse.
No one has noticed that under the bed.
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And yet
Countries that locked down hard and for a long time are finding it very difficult to reopen due to the fear in the population. We are seeing this in Europe now with the ripples of the virus and fear everywhere of a second wave.
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After a little bit of optimism in the US in June, economic indicators are starting to drop again. Unemployment claims are up again this week, the third week in a row. Massive gap ($2T) between Dems and GOP on a second stimulus program, the $600 unemployment assistance runs out this Friday.
well done President Trump
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Trump is finished at this point. But I am still concerned that quite a few politicians on the other side are willing to continue to trash the economy and society rather than look to reopen rationally. Trump is just as guilty on his own end. Aside from his various leadership failings through this and despite claims that the economy is important, he will continue to make illogical decisions on the border as that is one of his calling cards. I fear we are in the downward spiral where both sides will just blame one another until the election.
I wish November was 3 months earlier so we could move beyond this stuff sooner and get back to doing what’s important for people’s lives.
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And yet stock markets were up for 2020
All economic theory is out the window insofar as it was ever scientific in first place. Money is being printed and we have no inflation. Economists will be along to explain that when the reality is they just don’t know what will happen but it’s a good spectator sport
Facebook, pulling down things, and keeping Mexicans out?
The market doesn’t have to be rational. Money has to go somewhere, there is a growing opinion that cash and in particular the $US is heading for collapse, driving rallies in equities and gold.
Trump’s only real line at the moment is that he closed the borders against the experts advice and was right. Tbh he was, and I was one of those who went along with the WHO line on it. I think it was completely accidental mind.
He will continue to block certain countries as it is politically expedient. He is not the only one though. Ireland’s ludicrous travel policy is going to really damage Ireland. The EU’s travel guidelines are the best way forward for all countries - level of infections at a sane level and only open to where countries are testing enough and have adequate infrastructure overall. Sadly several European countries, and particularly Ireland, are deviating from that.
Well this is why it is convenient for politicians right now. The markets have just allowed them to create more debt to sustain society. This has allowed politicians of all descriptions to look hard headed and as great leaders, all after they neglected pandemic infrastructure for years.
The $600 plays perfectly in the US right now. It’s obviously right in the Dems wheelhouse, keep as many things closed (including schools), show the “Government” works for people and the economic indicators continue to sink. The GOP are desperate to cut it to appeal to their own base and to get economic recovery going.
The $600 payment and Ireland’s PUP payment were the right ideas at the start, but are going to become a bigger issue. It will stop people who can get back to work safely from going back in some instance, and it will suck up resources from industries (tourism, airlines) that are going to need a lot more money.
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It would seem to my untutored eye that it is because most of it is resting in ever fewer bank accounts, or being funnelled into “investment” rather than being spent , so normal rules on leveraging do not apply. ??
Space X looks like it will be even more bonkers.