Posted on 04/24/2021 5:26:26 AM PDT by Kaslin
Even as millions of Americans are vaccinated, the COVID-19 pandemic has left the U.S. economy in shambles.
Mortgage rates are climbing above 3 percent, while gas prices are skyrocketing—increasing more than 50 cents per gallon, with no end in sight. There is a global shortage of computer chips, generators, and houses. America’s housing market is nearly 4 million homes short of buyer demand, undermining the career prospects of Millennials and other generations.
At the same time, businesses of all sizes continue to be crushed by COVID-related restrictions, especially in blue states. In February, nearly one-quarter of U.S. small and medium-sized businesses were closed—up from 14 percent in October. The worst may be yet to come: 13 percent of small business owners—millions of employers—are prepared to close their doors if economic conditions do not improve later this year.
Then there’s unemployment. Based on the U6 unemployment rate, which accounts for workers who have quit looking for a job and part-time employees looking for full-time work, joblessness is well above 10 percent of the labor market. Last year, over 8 million American families experienced job loss, and millions more remain impacted.
There’s a reason why economic optimism is still low. Even with COVID-19 vaccines widely available, two-thirds of Americans remain hesitant to regularly venture out of home. We are months and months—if not years—away from economic recovery.
In fact, America is closer to a Great Depression 2.0 than a full-scale recovery. Current economic conditions do not even take into account public policy, such as President Biden’s eagerness to raise taxes or impose regulations on employers and their employees. The Biden administration’s plan to increase the corporate tax rate to 28 percent (from 21 percent) would reduce wages by more than 1 percent and kill nearly 160,000 jobs. At the same time, long-run gross domestic product (GDP) would drop by 0.96 percent—about $1,650 per U.S. household.
Meanwhile, President Biden’s $15 federal minimum wage proposal—which is backed by congressional Democrats—would reduce employment by another 1.4 million jobs. All in all, the Biden administration’s economic agenda would threaten nearly 5 million career opportunities. Can working Americans afford it, in the middle of a pandemic?
>At the height of COVID-19, unemployment levels were already comparable to Great Depression-era struggle, before recognizing the long-term consequences of government-mandated business closure. And that was under a Republican president, who opposed sweeping lockdowns and believed in pro-business policies. Under a Democratic president whose proposals cost trillions of dollars, Americans should brace themselves for more sustained suffering—and taxes to boot.
I am not trying to be a doomsayer. It is simply the reality. Americans cannot expect a return to economic normalcy in 2021—not under this president, not given these conditions. In 2006, I predicted a housing crisis in the coming years. In 2019, I shorted the stock market because I expected a downturn by early 2020. Now, I am moving into long-term equity anticipation securities (LEAPS), with my research showing a potential recession or depression within the next 18 to 24 months. Americans need to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
Of course, mass vaccination is one reason to be optimistic, but those in power are not necessarily ready for a return to normality. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recently instructed Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer—all too eager to abuse her executive authority—to “close things down” again, no matter the economic consequences. Governor Whitmer has already urged people to voluntarily restrict certain activities, despite millions of vaccines being distributed in the state. Then you have Dr. Anthony Fauci, who supports mask-wearing and social distancing even after vaccination.
The logical endpoint of the COVID-19 pandemic is not clear. Because of big-government types like Fauci, we have a long, long way to go. The situation may get worse before it gets better.
Price of steel up 168% since August 2020. Low inventory due to mills deemed non essential during lockdown. Unavailability of chips for machines in the mills that process steel due in part to sanctions, and pandemic.
But this time it’s on purpose, as a war strategy against us.
The economy is in shambles, which seem reasonable given Biden/Covid but housing is 4 million short of demand? Seems counterintuitive.
I guess it’s time to learn about dumpster diving.
Americans cannot expect a return to economic normalcy under democrat party rule.
HR 1 would cement their power in place.
Despite its racial bifurcation, America was socially stable in the 1930s during the Great Depression.
A similar depression today will cause an unprecedented social explosion.
China and Russia understand this perfectly well, and their 5th column of communist traitors and useful idiots will do all they can to make this coming social explosion a terminal event for the USA.
WHEN THE MUSIC STOPS: HOW AMERICA’S CITIES MAY EXPLODE IN VIOLENCE
Posted by Matt Bracken | May 31, 2020
(I wrote this essay in 2012 for Western Rifle Shooters Association, where it quickly racked up over 400 replies and comments. I’m reposting it here in American Partisan on May 31, 2020, during the George Floyd riots, without revision.)
I hope you are wrong but would not be shocked to see a serious dip in the economy. The psychology of Americans has been severely damaged by the Wuhan, becoming germophobes, agrophobes and wokesters. All liberty loving Americans need to band together and fight back.
Inflation will also happen when another several trillion dollars is spent and there is no supply available.
In 1979 I bought my house and paid 18.5% interest rates, unemployment was in the double digits, gas prices had tripled and the doom and gloom crowd was predicting 1929 era depression.
Ronald Reagan got elected, lowered taxes, created jobs, destroyed the soviet union, and we had 20+ plus years of economic boom times.
Interest rates have been kept low by the fed, but zero or negative interest rates are against the laws of long term prosperity in a capitalist system.
Rising interest rates are not going to create a depression.
We've been told that WuFlu didn't produce the baby boom they were expecting, and yet, coincidentally, the US population grew by 4 million last year. And during that time President Trump was still guarding our border.
Things that don't add. up.
Foodstuffs suitable for long term storage.
Medical supplies.
Weapon(s) and ammunition.
A means of communication that does NOT include the internet.
Trusted friends and family.
A neighborhood plan.
Barter goods.
Barter skills.
If you don’t have a start on these already, well, you’re pretty much .......
L
They handed a loaded gun to Communist China to shoot us with.
Couple this with Loral Space under Bill Clinton, who boosted China's ICBMs from amateur hour to tier one.
All for extra profit.
Now we will reap what those traitors have sewn.
See #9. No need for wheelbarrows today, it will all be on EBT cards.
Good comrades and favored minorities will get extra digital dollars.
Bad comrades will get nothing.
Do you think that 2021 is comparable to 1979, with Reagan coming in soon?
I sure don’t.
The flow of private capital and investment into lawless, unlivable Democratic controlled urban areas has slowed to a trickle. Right now the socialists are living off Federal aid and subsidies that cannot lasr forever. Noticable in NYC is the withdrawal of foreign capital from high end NYC real estate. Foreigners had seen high end American urban real estate a safe depository for their wealth. The US had a constitution, laws and banks that respected private property. Now foreigners are no longer so sure about the safety of investments in urban America.
A potable water plan too, in case “city water” goes down.
And a heating plan for cold winters, if the grid or fuel supply goes down.
During a civil war, everybody gets a vote on the adjacent zip code’s power supply.
Those without tend to resent those with. Transformers are easy targets.
Amen.
*** Americans cannot expect a return to economic normalcy under democrat party rule. ***
The section 232 tariffs on imported steel and aluminum enacted by Trump in 2018 are not an economic “booster” right now. With lumber and steel needed to build in short supply, and prices having skyrocketed, it will be hard for some builders who inked contracts pre lockdown to honor those contracts without taking a serious hit financially.
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