"A trillion bucks is a lot of money. The costs of shutting down the economy are larger. California's GDP is essentially zero at the moment. US GDP was about $22 trillion per year before the virus hit, almost $2 trillion per month.
"Shutting
everything down and staying home for a few weeks is a sledgehammer. OK, our leaders have to hit a virus with a sledgehammer when they have nothing else up their sleeve. But it cannot last. Businesses will close, people will lose jobs, the economy will not be there to start up again."
The Grumpy Economist: Needed: the reopening plan. Fast.
Are we headed into another Great Depression?
I agree. I have deep concerns that even 2 trillion dollars is only the beginning. As I have said in other threads, a trillion dollars is a thousand dollar bills stacked 63 miles high. The U S takes in 4. 25 trillion each year in total revenue, yet still borrows 1 trillion (at least) every year. Welfare alone is 1 trillion per year.
Obama added 8.5 trillion to the debt in 8 years.
The GNP did not grow enough to pay for any of it. 2 trillion is going to be printed and circulated now. It means inflation in the future. But, if Trump remains in office, we can, over a time frame, grow the economy enough to soften the blow. This is what most economists say.
This country is headed for bankruptcy if we do not get a handle on the debt. When we consider what past presidents have added to our debt, another 2 trillion, although serious, is actually peanuts. I think each succeeding president is only kicking the can on down the road until hyper inflation will actually destroy our economy. When the interest on the national debt overcomes the principal, a government Is officially bankrupt. That is only a few years away.
Greece, only a few years back, closed their banks on a Friday. The government told the people they were adjusting the treasury records. The following Monday, when the banks reopened, the government had seized half of all the bank accounts of citizens in the whole country to pay on the debt.
Greece told the people not to whine. They had the authority to have taken it all. Guess what? Instead of paying the seized funding on the debt, they still moved some of it to pork.
Pelosi, while America is dying from coronavirus, the stock market near depression levels, just tried to slip in over 1000 pages of pork, holding up the relief bill. Right now, America is bleeding profusely, while politicians argue.