Leonard Hofstadter wrote: » I agree with you about socialism, there needs to be a big campaign to highlight the fact that the reason we were rightly able to afford to give those who lost their jobs at least €350 a week for the next three months is because we had sensible centrist economic policies. The problem with socialism is eventually that you run out of other peoples' money. Imagine if we had had the Shinners or others on the far left in power the past few years. The money to do the right thing and allow businesses to survive and people to still obtain a somewhat decent income wouldn't be there. Or else we'd be paying 65-70% marginal tax rates not the 49% we pay now on incomes below €70,000, which is just a no-no in terms of attracting high paid jobs to fund the public services we need and it's no incentive for anyone to work harder. So I agree that we need to balance the books and we are all going to have to accept that the €10-20 billion (depending on how long this goes on for) is going to have to be paid somehow. I am normally completely opposed to paying more taxes but I am one of the lucky ones, I have my job and my salary is unaffected, so I deserve to have to pay more taxes for the next while (not 65-70% obviously but certainly I'm quite happy to have to pay a few per cent more for the next few years to pay off the debt we're racking up). They should increase the property tax also and some of the largesse on the various freebies we get from the Government, like free GP care for all children (I have no issue with subsidised GP care and a modest charge of even €5 because nobody should have to choose between a GP visit and food on the table, but completely free is just an incentive to clog the system up and waste our money), €15 dental visits, and so on, needs to be severely curtailed also so we can balance the books. I also wouldn't for a second begrudge the doctors and nurses and the healthcare staff a pay rise of at least 5%. They more than deserve it for quite literally putting their lives on the line for the rest of us. I have had a few experiences myself recently with our public hospitals (before Covid-19 happened), and while I know it's cliched to say they are fantastic people, it's simply the truth. So even if it wasn't for how brilliantly they are handling Covid-19, they well deserve a pay increase anyway.
sandbelter wrote: » I think for all the noise about Corona it is distracting us from the "big" unknown...namely that it has given Iran time to quietly develop its nuclear weapons program. This is an anathema to the US, Saudi Arabia and Israel. At some point one of snap back quicker than anticipated when it finally over.
Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: » How much are professional football players getting paid at the moment? And how much work are they doing? You pay people as much as you value their contributions to society and maintaining the status quo. Or you don't and see what happens to the status quo. I'll go with paying people extra, thank you very much. Small price to pay given the alternative.
NSAman wrote: » China will loose a few of its manufacturing markets. Simple things that need to be manufactured in each country will be done in each country. Basics in the healthcare industry will be manufactured in each country. Supply assurance. USA... could go either way. Depending on how this plays out, Trump will either loose massively or win massively* (my own feeling at the current time is that he will loose massively). Biden should be replaced with Cuomo (who has been fantastic in all of this) Europe will go into a deep recession. America will be seen as the place where business continues and thrives. China will be seen as the enemy of the world and people will become less dependent on manufacturing from there depending on Trumps future (see above *). Business will see that working from home is viable and many cuts to offices will occur. Air travel will be much more expensive (depending on who survives) My own hope, is that social improvements like taking life more on a personal level (rather than money being king) will happen. Social influencers and vacuous individuals will disappear..(I can only hope... Karadashians)
Headshot wrote: » I'm hoping the days of relying on China to manufacture will be gone. I've read that Japan are investing over 2 Billion to help its manufactures shift from China back to Japan.https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-08/japan-to-fund-firms-to-shift-production-out-of-china Europeans need to follow this example
Leonard Hofstadter wrote: » Completely agreed. We need to start making things in the EU once more.
Harry Palmr wrote: » The world might become more "socialist" for a while, people have seen massive takeover of the private by the public for the collective good. If it's seen to work the uber capitalists and right wing ideologues might have a harder time making their case for a smaller state and untrammelled capitalism as the key to private wealth.
ArthurDayne wrote: » It’s an interesting question. I think this event has shaken the collective confidence of capitalism — whereby for years we have tended to view the world in terms of economic phenomena and ‘the market’, yet now we have been sorely reminded that we are little more than organic material at the mercy of nature. The true forces of Earth are natural, not economic or political and, as Fintan O’Toole quite profoundly put it, Covid-19 has reminded us that we are not the kings of this world. We have been brought face to face with our ultimately pathetic fragility within the organic world we inhabit, which many of us subconsciously believed we had detached ourselves from and placed under the control of our supposed ingenuity and technological savvy. Positives and negatives can be taken from that epiphany, and much will depend on just how severe the now inevitable recession is going to be. I would hope that following all this, people will realise that ‘globalisation’ is not merely an economic phenomenon, but an opportunity for humanity to understand that the true threats to our prosperity are global ones requiring global co-operation to overcome — climate change, disease, the nuclear threat, the depletion of resources. This need not be seen as ‘hippyism’, or even a call for socialism. This pandemic can instead be seen as a living lesson that the corporate world gearing its talent, innovativeness, and financial might towards — not merely sustainability — but an appreciation of the profit-making power of commercialising solutions to global problems might actually be the future of capitalism. Alas, the vision that this pandemic might usher in a new era where businesses see the profit making potential of solving, or at least combating, global threats seems like an optimist’s dream. The sadder probability is that the coming recession will yield only the same bitterness, hatred and finger-pointing towards vulnerable scapegoats that every recession before it has yielded.
Larbre34 wrote: » With oil prices in the toilet, Russia's influence on the world will be no more than it is now. And in 8 months, Andrew Cuomo will be elected 46th President of the United States.
Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: » I'm curious to know where all the money for the stimulous packages and financial help for people who lose jobs or freelance work becuase of this, as we are alking worldwide. Will (can?) international debt between countries be simply written off? (Don't knoe much abotu world economics on this livel, so feel free to explain answers like I'm 5, as the phrase goes). Will counties with specific resources and raw materials suddenly find themsleves in much stronger positions? Will things like backpacking and short-hop travelling being too expensive? Will festivals and large-scale sports events become a thing of the past?
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