What Could Possibly Be Worse Than A Virus?

A few years ago, I ran a series of Unintended Consequences. One more comes to mind.

Click on image for a larger version

What Does This Crisis Mean for the Economy's Future?

Recently, someone asked me three questions:

• Who is going to pay for the government's handouts once this virus episode and economic standstill have passed?
• What kind of price inflation might we be looking at over the coming months?
• What should a person be doing today?

It inspired me to write an article that Seeking Alpha decided to publish. It is here.

I hope you will find it of interest.

Thoughts at a Crossroads

I’m becoming more and more skeptical of the human capacity to organize political society in a way that doesn’t end in catastrophe sooner or later.

Example: Both Republicans and Democrats plunged into this opportunity to lavish mirage-credit on the public. And as we know from experience: (1) corruption appears on such largesse like flies on a dungheap; and (2) mirage-credit must ultimately evaporate, taking with it all that depends upon it.

Taking this line of thinking a bit further, perhaps even towards more sardonicism:

I suspect that we humans are in a Catch-22: We don’t have enough enemies from the outside, so in order to test ourselves, societies “need” to make enemies of each other. That usually happens when (NB: not if) something disrupts supply and order, which, if violent enough, can cause shortages, anxiety, distrust, and fear for survival.

If we are to judge by known history, this ALWAYS happens. I hope we will not head down that path, at least not before I croak – that sounds selfish, and I guess it is. I've been lucky as a Baby-boomer. Maybe every generation must live through a period of strife and want, in which case mine is coming.

On a different but related subject, what is the main difference you see between the following two photos?

By Unknown author or not provided - U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17057587

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8169519/Motorists-line-mile-drive-food-bank-ensure-social-distancing-coronavirus.html#i-904e9fd9bd37e5ec