04-12-2020, 04:15 PM
(04-12-2020, 02:31 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: The death count is beginning to look like the casualty count of a very nasty war. Americans (and others) are accepting personal regimentation in stride as they would not in a 3T culture. People accept economic deprivations characteristic of the 1930's (other than rejecting the high technology that can keep people connected and keep people from going nuts) as a temporary measure. Maybe we don't have rationing. That there is really no place to go has cut down on driving.
The federal and state government will need to expand the welfare system to accommodate mass unemployment. Economic behaviors will change. I expect people to replace some habits with others. The biggest one? I expect the saving habit to revive after the current time of mass hardship. Six months of income in a savings account will look much better to many people than the shiny objects that people have bought with little thinking.
Good point. There are bread lines in Las Vegas 4 miles long at food banks. In cars though, not walking like during the Great Depression. But still this is a climax event and like Howe/Strauss proclaimed the government will set the rules, decide about winners and losers and people will largely fall in line.