Like a third world country
For such a rich country we sure do a wretched job of making sure everyone is ok. Some economists notice.
In a withering attack on the president, Joseph Stiglitz said millions of people were turning to food banks, turning up for work due to a lack of sick pay, and dying because of health inequalities.
The Nobel prize-winning economist said: “The numbers turning to food banks are just enormous and beyond the capacity of them to supply. It is like a third world country. The public social safety net is not working.”
That’s because there isn’t one. We’re all about making rich people ever richer, while ensuring poor people stay poor, and that in emergencies they die. That’s our one steadfast core value, as far as I can tell.
“We have a safety net that is inadequate. The inequality in the US is so large. This disease has targeted those with the poorest health. In the advanced world, the US is one of the countries with the poorest health overall and the greatest health inequality.”
And highest infant and maternal mortality, and largest gap between richest and poorest, and a number of other ugly markers.
Stiglitz said Republicans had opposed proposals to give those affected by coronavirus 10 days’ sick leave, meaning many employees were going to work even while infected. “The Republicans said no because they said it would set a bad precedent. It is literally unbelievable.”
A bad precedent of not encouraging a pandemic to spread and not forcing workers to choose between death by virus and death by poverty.
During an interview with the Guardian to mark the paperback publication of his book People, Power, and Profits, Stiglitz was asked whether the US might be heading for a second Great Depression.
“Yes is the answer in short,” he said. “If you leave it to Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell [the Republican Senate majority leader] we will have a Great Depression. If we had the right policy structure in place we could avoid it easily.”
But it will be great. It says so right in the title.
So that’s what “Make America Great Again” means.
And as I type this I’m listening to this by Lucinda Williams.
Yes, the Best Depression.
It never ceases to amaze me that the Republicans are able to win the support of so many of the people they victimize. Considering the 1% make up, well, 1%, it’s surprising how they can recruit so many of the non-hyper-rich to go along with their policies. Paint them red, white & blue, stoke the racism, and tell them Jesus is a Republican, and you’re golden.
That, and jerrymandering votting districts, ramping up voter suppression, and getting help from the Russians.
not Bruce, a lot of the reason, I suspect, is that so many of the non-rich supporting Donald believe they are only not-rich because (1) taxes are eating 90% of their money (not true); (2) black women have all the good jobs; (3) black women are all getting welfare, and they have to pay for it (usually believe 2 and 3 at the same time); (4) the liberals are keeping them down; (5) environmental regulations; (6) safety regulations; (7) any combination of the above, plus other things related to not being allowed to pray, having to be politically correct, and just in general other people not noticing how smart, talented, special, and hard working they are.
McConnell will have put state governments in real peril with his musing about bankruptcy for states. That is such a catastrophically bad idea. There is no law to allow it.
However, as a vendor now that I know the Senate Majority leader thinks we should go ahead and allow that, my next shipment to a State government is going to be cash up front. States don’t have long-term debt like bonds other than those issued for projects, usually with hypothecated revenues. So the impact will fall on three parties: vendors, employees, and retired employees. They used to be receivables that could be bank-financed to 90%, now a state like NY or CA won’t be 10%. Commercial vendors will start to refuse delivery to states like NY and CA without cash to protect themselves from the consequences, triggering a run on state cash levels.
Banks will not step in to provide ready liquidity, so state payrolls will be met for as long as the state has cash in the bank for – this is not going to be a great time to try to collect taxes. Meanwhile, a large swath of retirees will become close to destitute as soon the state pension funds run out of cash – some are huge like Calpers and can likely last into years, but will have to start dumping equity into an already weak market to meet their obligations. All of this will happen before the law can actually come into effect.
Abraham Lincoln: “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”
Ah yes, Abe. But we believe what we want to believe; which adds a little complication. Still, the Stiglitz piece in The Atlantic cited above shows that Honest Abe is still on the money. Trump has by no means fooled all of the people. But the question Trump’s opponents should be asking them is ‘why do you want to believe Trump’s bullshit?’
Admittedly, it comes in 55 flavours, but none of them disguise its essential quality; except to the faithful follower who does not mind being led over a cliff by a man wearing a very large one-man parachute.
It only actually comes in one flavor – shit – but they are wearing emerald-city glasses, and think it tastes like strawberry…or chocolate…or butter pecan…
Customer self-persuasion: an operator’s dream.