Daily Archives: March 24, 2020

In a Queens apartment, a laid-off busboy has no idea if he will make next months rent or feed his family. An out-of-work waitress in Amsterdam, though, can count on the government to cover 90 percent of her wages. As a Malaysian florist anxiously burns through her savings, cafe owners in Brussels receive about $4,300 to make up for lost revenue.

Weeks of layoffs and lockdowns have made clear that poor and working-class people will bear a disproportionate share of the pain from the coronavirus pandemic. In cities around the world, work has stopped. Bills have not. And no end is in sight. But the first wave of government rescue packages has exposed another reality: The pain will depend largely on where people live.

The disparity reflects not only the worlds differing safety nets, but also the contrasting views of a governments role in a crisis. Should it pump cash into the economy? Bail out businesses? Replace lost income for workers? Those questions are at the heart of a protracted debate over a nearly $2 trillion rescue package being negotiated in Washington.

I dont know what Im going to do. Oh my God, said Jose Luis Candia, 34, who lost his two jobs busing tables at high-end Manhattan restaurants. His wife gave birth to their third daughter a month ago. Friends have donated money for groceries. He does not know how he will pay rent or what will happen if he cannot.

Half a world away, in Copenhagen, workers in Mr. Candias situation face a different reality. The Danish government has promised to cover 75 percent to 90 percent of salaries if businesses do not lay off their employees. Better to pay to keep people employed than to pay for the disruption caused by mass layoffs and unemployment, the government has said.

I live from paycheck to paycheck, said Sebastian Lassen, 25, a coffee shop manager in Copenhagen. He feared the uncertainty, he added, but never considered that the government would allow so many workers to fall into poverty. We didnt come to the thought that, OK, maybe well be on the street, he said.

The Netherlands will pay up to 90 percent of wages for companies hit hard by the pandemic, with extra provisions being developed for restaurants. Everybody here believes that the government will take responsibility for the situation, and I believe that too, said Athina Ainali, a 25-year-old waitress for one of Amsterdams many shuttered restaurants.

Washington is divided over how to dole out recovery aid. Proposals have included one-time $1,200 payments. The biggest chunk of money, about $425 billion, is set aside for central bankers to use largely as they see fit. Economists say they expect that will include buying corporate debt and stabilizing financial markets. Democrats say the proposals do not do enough to expand unemployment benefits, provide food assistance or relieve student debt.

New York restaurant owners and workers are calling for aggressive action, including doubling unemployment benefits (which currently cover only about 50 percent of wages, even for minimum-wage employees) and providing rent abatement for displaced employees.

What distinguishes the United States from other countries is not the nature of the bailouts. Its the underlying structure, said Carol Graham, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who studies safety nets. People are more vulnerable from the get-go, even in normal times. You throw a shock like this at the system? Its about as bad as it could get.

American workers face extra anxiety over medical costs. The United States, unlike most of the developed world, does not guarantee health care.

While countries like Denmark have famously robust safety nets, even the Conservative government in Britain has, after years of austerity, adopted a similar approach. For the first time in our history, the government is going to step in and pay peoples wages, the British chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, said last week. The plan, which is still being developed, will pay up to about $2,900 a month to workers who have lost hours but are not laid off.

The center-right government in Germany will spend more than $40 billion to help small businesses cover basic needs to stay afloat during the crisis. That is in addition to a program aimed at larger companies, called kurzarbeit, or short-time working, that covers lost wages for employees who are sent home, to avoid laying them off. Economists expect about two million workers to receive aid under the program, more than during the financial crisis a decade ago.

We have a security net, and people dont fall below the security net, said Dierk Hirschel, the chief economist of ver.di, one of Germanys largest trade unions. But people are going to lose income, and in a traumatic way.

The German development bank, KfW, has promised an all-but-unlimited supply of business loans. There will be no upper limits for the amount of credit that the KfW can give out, Peter Altmaier, the minister of the economy, said.

Even with the rush to save jobs, uncertainty remains. Britains plan may come too late for workers who have already been laid off. If they cannot find jobs soon, they will most likely fall into the nations welfare system, which can pay as little as $300 a month. I do not know where to go from here, said Delphine Thomas, 20, who was laid off from a movie theater in Liverpool.

South Koreas employee-retention program covers 70 percent of wages or more, and the government recently loosened the rules to make more businesses eligible. But part-time workers, contractors and the self-employed receive fewer protections. Some may be eligible for one-time cash payments. Labor advocates want those workers to have the same benefits as full-time employees.

Business owners, too, face uneven support depending on the country. Elias Calcoen and his partner opened a cafe in Brussels eight months ago. It has been closed for more than a week, but the citys government is offering small businesses immediate $4,300 payments, plus $1,300 a month in federal aid for displaced self-employed workers.

We have no kids, we are in good health and the Belgian government is not leaving us by ourselves, Mr. Calcoen said. There are many people who are in a much worse position.

Brenda James-Leong, a florist in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, says she has been burning through savings while her store is closed. The Malaysian government has offered monthly assistance to the unemployed and lump payments to workers in certain sectors. If the government is doing anything for small businesses like mine, it has not been communicated as of now, she said.

Such apprehension is common, even in countries with generous aid programs. Ursula Waltemath, who owns Restaurant Brace in Copenhagen with her husband, has converted from fine dining to takeout. With schools closed, their 3-year-old daughter shadows them everywhere. At this rate, she figures they can survive three months, even with the government paying a portion of salaries.

It sounds amazing, and it is, to have this help, she said. But even 25 percent of all employee salaries, and rent and basic expenses, is a fortune if you have zero income.

Reporting was contributed by Anna Schaverien, Su-Hyun Lee, Jack Ewing and Melissa Eddy.

See the original post here:

Covid-19s Economic Pain Is Universal. But Relief? Depends on Where You Live. - The New York Times

Much of the U.S. economy has effectively shut down as America increasingly takes the coronavirus pandemic seriously. Retail stores and restaurants across the country are vacant. The entertainment and hospitality industries are on hiatus.

While necessary to slow the spread of COVID-19, this will have grave consequences for the economy as well as for the tens of millions of workers who depend on hourly wages to buy food, medicine and put a roof over their heads.

The Trump administration is finally taking it seriously too and asking Congress to pass an US$850 billion stimulus package, including sending $1,000 checks directly to all adult Americans. Some lawmakers are pushing for larger payments and over several months.

This is welcome news. As a macroeconomist specializing in income inequality, I know direct payments are just what low-wage Americans suddenly without a paycheck need to endure the crisis, which could last many months.

Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, this is an economic crisis hitting working-class and low-income Americans hardest.

Professional, salaried workers are able to work from home. They will continue to get regular paychecks and be in a good position to weather the economic storm created by the coronavirus. Professionals who lose some income likely have some savings to rely on until the economy recovers.

On the other hand, the waiters, retail clerks, hospitality industry employees and other hourly workers who make up nearly 60% of the U.S. labor force will be without work for an indefinite amount of time and rely on an unemployment insurance program that is far too stingy.

Furthermore, low-income Americans typically live paycheck to paycheck with virtually no savings. A recent survey by the Federal Reserve found that 40% of households couldnt come up with $400 to meet an unexpected expense.

Compounding this problem is excessive household debt, now exceeding $14 trillion. Highly indebted households are more vulnerable during an economic downturn. Their debt obligations must be paid, even when their income drops. My own research has found that many households were in financial distress well before the coronavirus hit. Now they are much more likely to default on loan repayments.

The bottom line is that people need money to survive.

Whats more, the U.S. economy needs people to spend money.

Consumer spending accounts for 70% of economic activity. It was already slowing and will slow much further now that people are losing their jobs and incomes.

Like the coronavirus, the problem of households in financial distress must be contained before things spiral out of control. Millions of retail clerks and bartenders suddenly without a job for several months cant spend and cant keep the economy growing. Their spending is others income, which means more companies will lose sales and other workers will lose their jobs.

They also wont be able to repay their debts, whether a mortgage, auto loan or credit card. When lots of indebted consumers cant repay their loans, financial institutions are at risk of going under, leading to a real financial crisis, as Italy now appears to be experiencing.

Thats what makes quick payments to Americans so vital.

Unlike many other forms of stimulus, the U.S. can send citizens $1,000 very easily and without delay the Trump administration hopes to do this within a couple of weeks. Ideally, it does it with no questions asked, no strings attached and for many months.

Its basically just a temporary form of what entrepreneur Andrew Yang talked about a lot during his run for the presidency, and its hardly new. When done on a permanent basis, its known as a basic income guarantee and has been proposed by a variety of people, from liberals like Yang to conservatives like economist Milton Friedman.

While people have an urgent need for money to simply pay bills and buy food now, the basic income guarantee is usually pushed as a longer-term solution to reducing poverty and inequality, as well as to offset the expected declines in employment as a result of automation and other technologies in the coming decades.

Its unclear for how long the White House wants to send out checks, but in my view they should be sent out each month until the economic crisis ends so that people can pay the rent, pay utilities and buy food.

A check in the mail is so very vital right now, but its not enough.

The U.S. should also expand unemployment benefits and other social insurance programs. Small businesses whose customers have vanished will need more support so that they can survive. And some industries, like airlines, may need a bailout.

But $1,000 would be a good down payment to help Americans already struggling and losing their jobs.

[You need to understand the coronavirus pandemic, and we can help. Read our newsletter.]

Go here to read the rest:

Trump's right: Congress should give Americans $1,000 right now to fight the coronavirus recession - The Conversation US

These are some of the holes in the government policy. The government needs to act swiftly to the low-paid, self-employed and homeless and also needs rules to prevent abuses.

The UK governments response to the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic has been disjointed. A good example is last weeks announcement that government grants will cover 80% of the salary of retained workers up to a total of 2,500 a month.

This late conversion to helping people to pay their bills and thereby keep businesses afloat is most welcome, but there are omissions that require urgent attention. Some examples:

There is little help for the UKs five million self-employed people working as carpenters, electricians, diggers, gardeners, tax drivers, self-fillers, cleaners, home helps, sole traders, owner managers and freelance journalists. The only help offered by the government is that every self-employed person can now access, in full, Universal Credit at a rate equivalent to Statutory Sick Pay for employees.

The Chancellor said: Im strengthening the safety net for self-employed people too, by suspending the minimum income floor, a measure used by the Department for Work and Pensions to calculate the amount of Universal Credit. There are complex conditions.

The Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is 94.25 per week. Even if someone goes through he hurdles of claiming the Universal Credit, they will only receive about 400 a month.

As the government is committed to providing the wage subsidy through HMRC, it could adopt an alternative approach. The income of the self-employed often fluctuates. HMRC could estimate average annual income and then apply the 80% test and 2,500 ceiling.

The government proposals hit the poorest the hardest. The current rate of the national minimum wage (NMW) for a 25-year-old is 8.21 an hour rising to 8.72 an hour from 1 April 2020. Many on and around the NMW will only receive 80% of their normal wage unless their employer pays the other 20%. If employers do not do that, the poorest workers face a wage cut of 20%. The government guarantee needs to cover 100% of the NMW. This could be done by to establishing a floor for the wage subsidy or a Universal Basic Income (UBI).

The governments wage support does little for 320,000 homeless people in the UK, many of whom may be outside the tax net altogether. A UBI would help them.

The current tax free personal allowance for the purpose of income tax is 12,500 a year. Some 42% of adults have an income below that threshold. The low-paid often do not submit tax returns and thus cannot be helped by a subsidy administered by HMRC. UBI is the best way to help them.

The government scheme only helps employees on payroll at 1st March. This does not offer any help to those who were made redundant just before that or persuaded to take unpaid leave before the Chancellor announced the wage subsidy of 20th March. An equitable solution would be for employers to withdraw the redundancy notices and unpaid leave.

The wage subsidy is not accompanied by any obligations upon the employers and is open to abuse. It could have considered a range of options, including requiring employers to pay 20% of the wage, a promise not to cut staff for the next 12 months or change their employment rights, a curb on executive pay, or a requirement to have employee-directors on boards so that employee interests are explicitly taken into account in the post coronavirus period.

The wage subsidy needs to be accompanied by curbs on dividend payments so that corporations preserve their cash flows to aid survival and recovery rather than using the public resources to enrich a few. Amidst the crisis, on 20th March or earlier, EasyJet paid a dividend of 174m whilst putting staff on unpaid leave. Some 60m went to its co-founder Stelios Haji-Ioannaou. It is hard to reconcile public subsidies with lavish dividends.

Many workers on low pay face wage cuts but are required to pay 100% of their rent, and other bills. There are numerous regional, class, age and income/wealth inequalities, but around 7.5m workers have no savings to fall back on. They can be evicted for non-payment of rents. The government needs to enact legislation to prevent evictions for rent arrears. It also needs to freeze, reduce or waive utility bills for the duration of the crisis.

These are some of the holes in the government policy. The government needs to act swiftly to the low-paid, self-employed and homeless and also needs rules to prevent abuses.

Prem Sikka is Professor of Accounting at University of Sheffield and Emeritus Professor of Accounting at University of Essex. He is a Contributing Editor to LFF and tweetshere.

As youre here, we have something to ask you. What we do here to deliver real news is more important than ever. But theres a problem: we need readers like you to chip in to help us survive. We deliver progressive, independent media, that challenges the rights hateful rhetoric. Together we can find the stories that get lost.

Were not bankrolled by billionaire donors, but rely on readers chipping in whatever they can afford to protect our independence. What we do isnt free, and we run on a shoestring. Can you help by chipping in as little as 1 a week to help us survive? Whatever you can donate, were so grateful - and we will ensure your money goes as far as possible to deliver hard-hitting news.

See the rest here:

Who the government's coronavirus economic measures leave behind - Left Foot Forward

It was abundantly clear after the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak reached Jabalpur, Lucknow, Bhilwara and a reported case from a slum in Mumbai that Indian public policy needed to include the neglected informal sector workforce: The most important stakeholders for politicians.

People across the world are dealing with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, including several shocks that ravaged economies.

The impact of the epidemic is nuanced and multi-layered.

There is no question that what we are about to see is a hyphenated reality: The one that lies in the co-existence of independence-interdependence of local and global economies and more bluntly, globalisation and de-globalisation.

Global and local supply chain disruptions loom across the world, devastated travel and tourism industries, global aviation bracing for impact, tanking stock markets, cancelled events and postponement of several elections are some of the impacts the world is facing.

The crisis ahead is complex and exposes deep societal punctures as everyone slides into a cocoon of imminent self-isolation.

Several state governments in India announced comprehensive packages, keeping in mind the needs of the poor.

The Delhi government, in addition to a Rs 50 crore package in its 2020-2021 budget, announced free lunch and dinner to the homeless, free ration and double pension.

The state governments of Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Kerala, Rajasthan, etc, all announced urgent welfare measures, keeping in mind the problems of the urban and rural poor.

The working classes, the urban poor and migrant labourers make the economy tick. They, however, bear the brunt each time an unexpected shock hits them.

These shocks have dire consequences: Economic dislocation, long-term livelihood shocks, occupational and social displacement.

Labourers and migrant workers were seen leaving for their native homes, according to media reports and visuals seen on social media.

They leave for the possibility of finding family support, cheaper food, accommodative social structures and a community sense, compared to a fairly alienated urban eco-system.

The existence of the anonymity of the city could not have been more obvious.

The alienated luxuries of exercising work from home or calling in sick are not options for those who struggle for daily wages and live hand-to-mouth.

Over 90 per cent of the countrys total workforce lies in this informal sector, largely excluded from holistic legal and social protection, or poor security benefits.

Social distancing, work from home and hand sanitisation are the most logical elixirs correctly recommended and implemented worldwide.

It is, however, worth understanding why many of our brethren dont have these luxuries, essential in a lockdown situation.

These are isolated concepts when one sees the problem from the lens of the average construction worker, airport staff and garbage collectors sanitising our lives without protective gear.

It beseeches us as a society to look within and understand why these important stakeholders continue to be the most vulnerable.

They act as bridges between rural and urban India. They are the most important economic buffers that help the economy sustain and thrive.

We must be considerate to factor in compassion and incorporate concepts of affordability and accessibility to the fore, if policy is to be overhauled.

This is the minimum urban vocabulary that takes ages to trickle down to the most important stakeholders: People at the wrath of globalisation and its discontents.

How do family members of a household that does not have access to water constantly wash their hands? How does a family of five living in an urban slum practice physical and social distancing?

It is about time that governments come up with a comprehensive plan to protect working classes and the unorganised sector not just at the time of an epidemic, but for the long haul.

Prioritising resource allocation is key which is why governments are now designing packages.

A problem of this magnitude, however, should not be the reason to wake up.

A revamped approach to universal basic income or minimum income guarantee on an emergent basis is perhaps needed.

Such concepts were discussed before the 2019 general elections.

India Inc also needs to step in and prove their societal responsibility and ethical commitments. Anand Mahindra and Reliance Foundation have taken the lead in this regard.

A more serious and empathetic approach to cooperative federalism towards coordinated action between the centre and the states, most importantly, becomes the need of the hour.

We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.

India Environment Portal Resources :

More:

COVID-19 outbreak brings attention back to informal sector - Down To Earth Magazine

The Baidu Inc. map application displays the locations visited by people who have tested positive for ... [+] the coronavirus in an arranged photograph taken in Shanghai, China, on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. For decades, China has been building and refining the ability to track its citizens' whereabouts and interactions to contain dissent and protest. The state's effort to try to contain the rapid spread of the new coronavirus is now testing the limits of that surveillance system. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

At this point, with half the world in lockdown, it goes without saying that we are living through an episode that will leave an indelible mark on our future. We are no longer just talking about the deaths and the economic crisis the coronavirus pandemic will undoubtedly cause, but about much deeper changes we will have to make to prepare ourselves for a future that suddenly no longer seems so attractive.

The coronavirus has jolted us back to reality. We may have thought we were enjoying the greatest period of well-being in history, but now we know we are vulnerable, that we live on a planet we are destroying and making uninhabitable for our species, and that our activity causes mutations in microorganisms that periodically manifest themselves as dangerous pathogens. The best that this pandemic can provide us with is the evidence that things should not return to the way they were before.

How will we live when we have the pandemic under control? Everything we are learning about the coronavirus should help us prepare better for future pandemics, which there will be. At the moment we know that acting quickly is essential, that covering things up, downplaying the threat or not taking responsibility just makes things worse, and that some countries are doing much better than others in flattening the curve and containing the pandemic. As I commented at the time: the United States was a disaster waiting to happen.

We now know what we only suspected at the beginning of the month: the enormous importance of testing. The more test kits are available, the simpler and the faster they are, the better. The commitment to diagnosing as many people as possible set those countries that are managing to contain the pandemic apart from those that continue to see the number of infections rise.

In addition, we must maintain the lockdown, however difficult. We should listen to somebody who grew up in a society where there were no civil rights, Angela Merkel, talk about how the current situation justifies restricting our movements. And matters will not stop there: people might have been shocked when they saw China use apps and geolocation to control the movements of its population during the spread of the infection, but we now see Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan following suit: their success is being used to justify population control measures that would be completely unacceptable under normal circumstances.

Now, with the pandemic spreading exponentially, the US is considering suspending some constitutional rights, and asking for information from Facebook, Google and other technology companies about to implement measures similar to Chinas, to the extent you can do so in a democratic country. European mobile phone operators are beginning to share their users data with the authorities to identify their customers movements without revealing their identity, so far honoring the GDPRbut that could soon change.

Were going to have to adapt the social contract to facilitate the mechanisms to allow the state to bring populations under greater control by monitoring them without giving up our civil rights when the lockdown is lifted. In the future, health care will change drastically, and monitoring devices will become fundamental. Being able to impose a really effective quarantine without idiots trying to escape to the country, being able to guarantee that an infected person remains isolated or being able to trace the movements of someone during the period they could be acting as a vector of the disease becomes key, but without becoming a police state.

Were going to have to do more if were going to bring the coronavirus under control, and leveraging technology to do so makes perfect sense. Quarantines must be tightened, research must allow us to understand why some people only have mild symptoms while others become seriously ill or die, even if it means sequencing the DNA of all those who undergo testing. And we must accept this as something exceptional, as something to help resolve a crisis, without losing our hard-won civil rights.

The coronavirus has made us aware of many things. Among them, that we can slow down and halt an epidemic. Now, let us act with the same determination to solve a more serious problem: the climate emergency. Let us act to change the way we live and turn ways of alleviating the crisis through subsidies and temporary aid into a safety net system by providing unconditional basic income to keep the entire population above the poverty level, not only in the face of a pandemic, but forever.

Can we ensure that these exceptional measures are not cemented in place? The only way lies in redefining the social contract. That will be just one of the many things we will have to do in the hopefully not-too distant future.

We really need to get our heads round this one

Read more:

Coronavirus, Surveillance And The Redefinition Of The Social Contract - Forbes

By James K. Galbraith

Los Angeles Times

As the COVID-19 crisis deepens, my fellow economists have reached deep into their bare cupboards of old ideas, and what have they found?

Models that do not work: bailouts for big companies. Tax cuts for people well-off enough to owe taxes. Cash-grant schemes, a favorite of the universal income crowd.

These tactics wont be effective. We cannot predict how bad the economic situation will get. And however bad it is, you cannot fill the hole with money alone.

In 1929, Irving Fisher, the greatest economist in America, said that stocks had reached a permanently high plateau. In December 2008, the incoming Obama team locked onto a forecast that was out of date by Inauguration Day. The models now are useless. Is the $1-trillion-plus package proposed by the Treasury Department enough? No economist knows. In this situation, we must act without knowing, and do whatever it takes.

But we must act wisely. Bailouts of airlines will benefit those who own stock. Tax cuts, no matter how designed, are geared toward people who have money to tax. These are not priorities.

Cash grants are another issue. Cash is simple, appealing and welcome although getting it quickly to those most in need is not so easy. But the main problem right now is not a shortage of cash.

The critical looming problem is the security and stability of basic supplies. We can beat the virus if people are separated and sheltered in safe and secure homes and apartments. For that, they must remain housed and fed.

We need medical supplies, as everyone knows: masks, oxygen, respirators, ventilators. We need field hospitals, converting hotels and dormitories and even stadiums. We need people trained quickly to work these facilities and to be paid well for work that requires them to be on the front lines. We need to gear up factories all over the country to make the necessary goods, on the assumption that global supply chains will not be revived before inventories run out. For these tasks, we need workers.

We also need more basic, everyday items that flow across the country in vast domestic networks: food, cleaners, disinfectants, paper goods, motor fuel. They need to get into grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations. For all that, we need truckers, stockers, checkout clerks, managers. Even the restaurants that now only offer takeout will need drivers. We need security guards in the stores. In short, our critical service and distribution workers need to stay on the job.

These needs arent going to be addressed by bailouts. And cash grants come with two big hazards. First, they may fuel panic buying and hoarding, accelerating the rush to shortages, deepening hardship and even hunger for those who do the right thing and refuse to panic. Second, cash grants may encourage essential low-wage workers to stay home, making it difficult to keep the distribution chains working as they must.

We need instead to guarantee that our critical sectors food, fuel, medicines, household basics all stay open, while everything inessential is closed. For this, workers in those sectors need higher wages, health protections, a guarantee that medical costs will be covered if incurred. Amazon has raised wages, and that is a start. All big distributors, grocery and drug chains and fast-food franchises should follow.

Well also need many more workers in health care a sector where armies of domestic workers could quickly deploy their cleaning and housekeeping skills. People with some training in health care proper can get more. People who have quit the sector can come back. Better pay will help here as well.

The millions now being laid off do need expanded unemployment insurance a shelter-in-place supplement would replace some lost income. The fast way to do this is through employers; just have the government reimburse them.

But more important for those at home is to cut their costs. Los Angeles has enacted a moratorium on evictions and late fees for renters. The federal administration has announced a moratorium on foreclosures for some mortgages. These are proper steps. Internet and other basic telecommunications services should be made free for the duration. The government can support closed businesses with loans and grants to keep them in hibernation until this abates.

Can all this be paid for? Of course it can be. Whatever we can do, we can afford. Getting caught up in budget guesswork, business as usual for Congress and economists, is a time-consuming mistake. In the end, the problem is not money. It is speed, logistics, targeting.

For that, a Health Finance Corporation, modeled after the Reconstruction Finance Corporation of Depression and World War II fame, with unlimited borrowing power, can put the money where it is needed. States and cities, the National Guard and the Army, business and labor can all do their part. If we act, at once and wisely, a better America will rise to the call.

James K. Galbratih teaches at the University of Texas at Austin.

Continued here:

Commentary: We need food, medicine and safety not tax cuts and corporate bailouts to face coronavirus - The Daily World

KEY POINTS

New Zealands Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ordered a month-long lockdown for the country beginning on Wednesday to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

Schools and businesses will shut down, residents will be required to stay indoors and only essential services -- supermarkets, banks, pharmacies, doctors clinics, service stations and gas stations -- will be open.

Nonessential services like bars, cafes, restaurants and cinemas will be closed.

Public transport will be available only for those people who work in essential services.

New Zealand, a nation of 4.8 million, has confirmed more than 100 cases of the virus, but no deaths yet.

New Zealand has already closed its borders to foreign travelers.

Ardern said that community transmission of the virus was taking place in New Zealand and that, in a worst case, the number of cases would double every five days, meaning that ultimately tens of thousands of people could die.

The worst case scenario is simply intolerable, it would represent the greatest loss of New Zealanders lives in our history and I will not take that chance. Ardern said. I say to all New Zealanders: the government will do all it can to protect you. Now Im asking you to do everything you can to protect all of us. Kiwis go home.

If the number of new virus infections slows down after a month, the lockdown will be partly relaxed in specific areas, she added.

The situation here is moving at pace, and so must we. The trajectory is very clear, act now or risk the virus taking hold as it has elsewhere, Ardern added. We currently have 102 cases, but so did Italy once, now the virus has overwhelmed their health system, and hundreds of people are dying every day. Today, get your neighbors phone number, set up a community group chat, get your gear to work from home, cancel social gatherings of any size or shape, prepare to walk around the block while keeping a two-meter [6.5 feet] distance between you. If in doubt, dont go out.

After Arderns announcement, New Zealand witnessed panic buying at grocery and liquor stores, while phone lines were overwhelmed.

New Zealands stock market plunged 8.65% on Monday.

Ardern also noted that police officers and even the military will enforce the lockdown.

We dont want to get to a place where we need to enforce these instructions, but we will if required, said Commissioner of Police Mike Bush.

It is an unprecedented scenario for the country.

We are all as a nation preparing to go into self-isolation, in the same way we have seen many other nations do, Ardern added. These measures will place the most significant restrictions on New Zealanders movements in modern history, this is not a decision taken lightly but it is our best chance to slow the virus and save lives. I know what I am asking for is significant, but I ask New Zealanders to move through this next phase in an orderly way.

Simon Bridges, the opposition leader, as well as scientists and public health experts had been calling for shutdown.

Finance minister Grant Robertson said he might introduce a universal basic income for all New Zealanders. Otherwise, New Zealanders might be able to access their superannuation accounts early, like Australians already can. Robertson also said the shutdown has the support of the business community.

Robertson also said the government will inject NZ$4 billion [$2.3 billion] into the economy over the next eleven weeks. He also unveiled support for mortgage holders, a business finance guarantee scheme and a freeze on all rent hikes.

We cannot guarantee to stop all job losses, but we are doing our best to cushion the blow, Robertson said.

Australia, which has reported thousands of virus, cases, started some lockdown measures on Monday, but has not imposed self-isolation.

More:

New Zealand Orders Month-Long Lockdown To Halt Spread Of Coronavirus - International Business Times

This article originally appeared on VICE UK.

You sit at home, desperately trying to video call your colleagues from your badly lit bedroom. Your housemate watches Yoga with Adriene next door on YouTube, and your mum tries to FaceTime you for the third time today. Somewhere outside, a child screams. As you stare out your window, making eye contact with the man in the house across the road, you start to realise that this coronavirus thing is making people act... weird.

Who would have thought it would take a mere global pandemic to get us behaving like this? Downloading episodes of Friends onto a hard drive in case the internet goes down or stockpiling a dry roasted peanuts, Chardonnay, and tins of pineapple because it felt like the right thing to do at the time?

We have officially as a nation lost it. Of course, this a stressful time for many people, but this coronavirus outbreak is really showing the unique and deeply unsettling ways many respond in times of crisis. Here are some of the tribes youll encounter during this madness:

Your phone pings. Aunty Ruth has sent you a message. 'Weird,' you think. You didnt even know she had your number. Hi luv. Just wondering if youve seen the news about wuhans virology lab? Dont u think its strange. China def started it. Check out this link. Luv uxx

The link opens to a news site youve never heard of. You leave it.

Another ping. It's a forwarded image of a message from someone called "Daddy". Big news: not sure if the second half is 100% percent checking BUT 1. Whole country is going on Lockdown on Friday for 15 days. They expect the peak to hit in this period. All companies will have to Wfh. Army are being deployed to London for support. 2. Prince Philip has apparently passed away (albeit not from Coronavirus) and this will be announced in the next day or two. I believe my source is good in the Royal media office."

Just saw this and thought you should know. say hi to mum for me xx.

You block the number.

Really think gvmt need to make internet accessible to all as isolation takes hold, writes one lukewarm take merchant on Twitter.

Worried about layoffs a basic income for everyone could become necessity! No 10 needs to act, says another.

A disgrace that the NHS is so underfunded. Lack of ventilators will cost lives. Cash injection now!

This is what youre seeing as you idly scroll your Twitter timeline on Day Two of social distancing. Are you really reading this from the same people who spent the entire 2019 election campaign writing broadsheet op-eds titled things like Labours Socialist Plans Will Bring Pestilence on the UK, Rail and Utility Nationalisation Is For Idiots, and More Money For Schools? LOL?

Could it be that in a time of national crisis (and indeed at all times!), socialist policies are simply the most humane and most practical strategies to enact? Could it be that furnishing everyone with the dignity of a basic income, secure housing, and reliable utilities is actually good??

You are phoning your dad to make sure he is OK, what with the "everything" that has been going on. Youre expecting a bit of banter about there being no pasta in the shops (what the bloody hell are you going to eat then, thats all you can cook isnt it? etc. etc.), and some gentle chat about working from home. Instead this is what happens:

You: Alright dad, how are you? Staying safe?

Dad: Safe? What do you mean?

You: Well, with the virus and everything.

Dad: Oh bloody hell you dont believe all that do you?

You [realising now the magnitude of what you are dealing with, of the immensity of this mans belief that he is right in every situation this is, after all, the person who lost Trivial Pursuit screaming the answer is ALAN SHEARER; that fucking question card is WRONG and didnt speak to anyone for 12 hours afterwards]: Yes! Have you not been staying in?

Dad: No, are we supposed to? I was just on the way to the pub actually

Mind you, he is fuming that theres no bog roll in the Co-Op down the road, so its not like hes completely unbothered.

The preppers aren't always the ones you expect. Theyre not overly organised, but now you think about it they do have a sort of quiet, unhinged energy about them. Head round to theirs for a coffee, and you'll notice the UHT milk (Sorry its not fresh! Got loads of these though!), or the four packets of rice, 30 instant noodles, pasta, and jelly (weird flex but OK). Fine, you guess. Then you'll find out about the 6 AM trips to Sainsburys and the bag of cash under their bed, and you will be able to confirm that yes, indeed, you have found The Prepper.

You dont mock them though, because, ultimately, when youre subsisting off spoonfuls of mustard and rice, staring down the barren aisle in a Tesco Metro, you will need them more than ever.

"HEY GUYS, PLEASE JUST LET ME KNOW IF YOURE GOING OUT OR USING PUBLIC TRANSPORT. IVE PUT OUT SOME MORE HAND SANITISER AND DISINFECTANT WIPES AROUND THE HOUSE, SO PLEASE MAKE USE OF THEM AND ALWAYS WASH YOUR HANDS WHEN YOU GET IN. JAMES: I HEARD YOU COUGH AROUND 2PM YESTERDAY. PLEASE STAY IN YOUR ROOM AND LET US KNOW IF YOU COUGH AGAIN. ALSO NO BFS/GFS AT THE MOMENT. SORRY GUYS JUST A BIT STRESSED HERE SURE IT WILL BE FINE DONT USE MY TOWELS OR MUGS."

Everyone who rents knows that renting in most cases is shit. You pay half your monthly wages to a shadowy and malevolent letting agent to live in a damp box in a "desirable location" (above a chippy in Clapton, 20 minutes from the nearest station) that you aren't even allowed to decorate with a measly Blu-tacked photo on the wall. This is, at best, financially destabilising and at worst actually degrading.

Everyone who rents knows this. Usually, it hums along in your brain as a sort of general background awareness, sometimes peaking with a red wash of anger when the oven breaks and it takes the landlord or agency three weeks to respond to your email, let alone fix it.

But right now, as the economy collapses in on itself, and all those most likely to rent (i.e. younger and lower income workers) are let go from their precarious jobs with no guarantee theyll be able to keep the roofs over their heads your resentment has been sharpened. Youve started a WhatsApp group called "RENT STRIKE FUCK THEM" and youve been reading up on property law while you self-isolate with a cough that is being made worse by the damp in your room. It goes without saying that you are a legend and I love you.

@RubyJLL @hiyalauren

Read the original here:

All the Coronavirus Tribes You've Met During the Outbreak - VICE