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America Is Facing a Second Great Depression. What Washington Needs to Do to Keep That From Happening
Barron's ^ | 3/21/20 | Ben Levisohn & Lisa Bellfus

Posted on 03/27/2020 9:36:37 AM PDT by Shane

The coronavirus has scared everyone, from consumers and investors to central bankers and politicians. But one question looms over everything: Are we frightened enough to do what needs to be done? That might seem surprising to say. The fiscal policy response to the coronavirus crisis is coming. It will be big. It will be costly. It will be messy. But it won’t be big enough. A robust fiscal response is an imperative if the U.S. economy is to avoid a deep, lengthy recession or, as some fear, a depression. And it’s going to have to be bigger than many of us can even imagine. The coronavirus pandemic is the ultimate black swan event, unlike any threat faced by the U.S. since the Spanish Flu of 1918. It’s not simply a financial system that needs to be backstopped, an enemy to be defeated, or even a dislocation in the commodities market that was seen in the 1970s. It’s a disease that will pass from person to person, cause dislocations in the financial system, bring economies to a standstill in its wake. And we need to be prepared to go to war on two fronts—the health crisis and the economic crisis. To succeed, Washington needs to set aside partisan bickering, xenophobia, and blame-shifting, and pass legislation first to stanch the bleeding and then to help heal the people and businesses that will bear the brunt.

(Excerpt) Read more at barrons.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: depression
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To: Shane
Yet another screed from apparatchiks at the Ministry for Statist Aggrandizement.

We're from the government and we're here to ensure the FUBAR

41 posted on 03/27/2020 10:59:31 AM PDT by tomkat
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To: Steely Tom

if only the world had one Tsar.


42 posted on 03/27/2020 11:00:30 AM PDT by MrBambaLaMamba (All evil and bad things originate in China)
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To: Shane

The last thing we need is government. It is a huge part of the mess we are in. We also need less of the media and Dems and liberals. We need to go back to living. Work, school and recreation. People will die if we are open or closed. Opened we have a chance to live, brave and free. Closed we see our nation die and the people become slaves.


43 posted on 03/27/2020 11:01:22 AM PDT by mulligan (En bbnnEeThe)
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To: MrBambaLaMamba

Imagine, if you can...


44 posted on 03/27/2020 11:01:30 AM PDT by Magnum44 (My comprehensive terrorism plan: Hunt them down and kill them.)
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To: eeriegeno

“Why in God’s name would we ever shut down the entire country to purposely create a depression?”

Simply Orange Man Bad


45 posted on 03/27/2020 11:03:50 AM PDT by al baby (Hi Mom Hi Dad)
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To: Steely Tom

1920 there was an economic catastrophe, Washington did nothing 10 months later everything was fine
1929 there was an economic catastrophe Washington did 3000 things and 17 years later everything was fine.
It is a little shocking to me that the mistakes of the past are being repeated and very few understand we are gong to have a ten year mess instead of 1.


46 posted on 03/27/2020 11:09:33 AM PDT by genghis
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To: Shane

They mean Third Great Depression, don’t they? In many ways, the Obama Depression was worse than the “Great” Depression.


47 posted on 03/27/2020 11:28:13 AM PDT by kaehurowing
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To: Fury

One thought gives me hope: just like the stock market, thanks to Trump we had further to fall.

I’m optimistic that most of us will be able to return to the jobs we had, based on the fact that most of us want to put this behind us and get on with the lives we’ve been forced to put on hold.

Of those who remain unemployed after this, many didn’t have a job when Trump took office or even as recently as last year. Meaning that many lives will be reset back several years but when Trump’s re-elected (dear Lord, I pray) things will get cranking again fast, especially as he promotes on-shoring companies and jobs that got shipped overseas.


48 posted on 03/27/2020 11:39:45 AM PDT by LateBoomer
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To: Shane

Bump


49 posted on 03/27/2020 11:51:58 AM PDT by foreverfree
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To: Shane

A combination of fiscal, monetary, and supply-side stimuli are needed, along with infrastructure projects that pass a credible cost-benefit analysis. Fortunately, in confronting this potential Depression, we have a President who, as a businessman with an MBA from Wharton, not only understands what needs to be done but has shown political skills of the first order.


50 posted on 03/27/2020 11:53:17 AM PDT by Rockingham
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To: Jim Robinson
The solution is to let our people go back to work.

Zackly so. If they are truly scared to work, give them a bit of welfare.

If they want to work and offer others jobs, give them sinks and towels and whatever keeps them going.

Sit at home and wait to be infected...b. as in b., s. as in s.

51 posted on 03/27/2020 11:56:03 AM PDT by Fightin Whitey
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To: Red Badger; All

And FReepers who breathlessly post the world wide death toll count by the minute.


52 posted on 03/27/2020 11:57:37 AM PDT by Cobra64 (Common sense isnÂ’t common anymore.)
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To: Rockingham

I concur with your thoughts. I should mention that President Trump does not have a MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated in May 1968 with a B.S. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.


53 posted on 03/27/2020 12:30:51 PM PDT by Shane (When Injustice Becomes Law, RESISTANCE Becomes DUTY.----T.Jefferson)
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To: Shane

An economics degree would be better yet. I thought that Trump had an MBA.


54 posted on 03/27/2020 12:46:02 PM PDT by Rockingham
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To: Shane

If it doesn’t include arresting congress, it won’t help.


55 posted on 03/27/2020 2:20:02 PM PDT by SERE_DOC ( The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it. TJ)
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