Coronavirus

“We can’t shut down the economy again”

Written by SK Ashby

The stock market is tanking today because Wall Street traders finally remembered that the coronavirus still exists as a second wave appears to be emerging, but we won't or at least shouldn't shut down the economy again according to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

Mnuchin appeared on CNBC this morning where he said shutting down the economy is worse than letting the virus run its course.

“We can’t shut down the economy again. I think we’ve learned that if you shut down the economy, you’re going to create more damage,” Mnuchin said in an interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer on “Squawk on the Street.”

“And not just economic damage, but there are other areas and we’ve talked about this: medical problems and everything else that get put on hold,” he added. “I think it was very prudent what the president did, but I think we’ve learned a lot.”

I doubt anyone who has been sick or lost a loved one to the virus would agree that a shutdown is worse than the virus itself.

In any case, this appears to have been an attempt to calm the market, but Mnuchin's efforts failed because it's not actually up to him. State authorities will be the ones who have to make tough decisions in the coming weeks and months but, moreover, additional waves of the virus could depress consumer demand to the extent that staying open for business hardly matters.

Has your state reopened? Are you going out?

I'm not. I go to the grocery store twice per week, but I haven't been to a restaurant since the first week of March. I used to go out with my father almost every week since both of us spend a lot time alone, but we don't do that now even if our favorite places are open for business because the risk is still too great. I'm not particularly worried about myself, but he would be at very high risk if he were infected. I've been extra careful just cooking for him in my own kitchen.

I'm sure most people reading this have taken their own precautions or have their own concerns and that's why our economy won't go anywhere fast until we have a vaccine.

Trump isn't capable of making people feel safe enough to go back out because he never took the virus seriously and still doesn't.