Economic Analysis of Covid-19 Effects

Posted on June 18, 2020 by recoverydiva

From Vox: A new paper finds stimulus checks, small business aid, and “reopening” can’t rescue the economy. Real-time data on how the economy responded to Covid-19 suggests the problem is the disease itself.

The picture that emerges in a new working paper based on the economists’ findings is of an economy frozen in place. Simply declaring the economy “reopened” does not seem to do anything to spur high-income people to spend more, and it’s not clear that anything can until the real threat passes.

The tool, the Opportunity Insights Economic Tracker, was launched by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights group. The research was led by Raj Chetty, Nathaniel Hendren, John N. Friedman, and Michael Stepner, and the tool was assembled by a team of 39 collaborators. It aims to provide a service that has never existed before, but is badly needed during the pandemic: a real-time, day-by-day, ZIP-code-by-ZIP-code snapshot of how the American economy is performing.

Do We Need a New Epidemic Forecasting Center?

Posted on June 17, 2020 by recoverydiva

Various perspectives on better ways to forecast the next pandemic. Something like the National Hurricane Center.

From the WashPost: To prepare for the next pandemic, the U.S. needs to change its national security priorities, experts say

Local vs. National Government

Posted on June 16, 2020 by recoverydiva

Tulsa Mayor Shares Anxiety About Upcoming Trump Rally In His City

Local officials in Tulsa are concerned about the upcoming rally this Sat., but are reluctant to exert their authority to stop it.

Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum announced that local officials would not block the Trump campaign from holding its rally at the BOK Center on Saturday, despite his own anxieties and increasing criticism and fear that the rally could exacerbate the city’s already mounting roster of confirmed COVID-19 cases.

“I also will not attempt to block the state government or the President of the United States by invoking the local civil emergency authority in our city ordinance,” Bynum wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “That authority was used earlier this year under extraordinary circumstances to prevent the catastrophic collapse of our local health care system.”

10 States at Greatest Risk for Natural Disasters

Posted on June 16, 2020 by recoverydiva

From InsuranceBusiness Mag: These states are especially at risk for natural disasters

2020 is shaping up to be a bad year for natural disasters, according to personal finance website ValuePenguin. At the end of April, the year ranked number two for most disasters – with peak hurricane and wildfire seasons still ahead.

Some states are especially at risk, according to ValuePenguin. In a recent study, the company found that 10 states pay for more than 80% of the cost of natural disasters in the US, with damage especially concentrated along the Gulf Coast.

The Value of Building Codes

Posted on June 15, 2020 by recoverydiva

From Scientific American: Tougher Building Codes Would Avert Major Losses, FEMA Study Shows. In California and Florida alone, such codes have prevented $1 billion a year in structural damage.

This is hardly surprising news, but the big cost savings are notable.

CDC Guidance for Going Out

Posted on June 15, 2020 by recoverydiva

From the CDC: Deciding to Go Out. Venturing Out? Be Prepared and Stay Safe

Some Thoughts Worth Considering from Fiona Hill

Posted on June 12, 2020 by recoverydiva

The title of this article is not helpful, but some of the thoughts and experiences of a smart lady are worth considering. From The Guardian: Trump thought I was a secretary’: Fiona Hill on the president, Putin and populism. Some excerpts:

It’s a story really about how the US, UK and Russia have all ended up in the same spot weirdly, not just in terms of Covid-19 but also populist politics and many of the same out-of-control inequalities,” Hill said.

In her view populist governments are useless at handling complex problems of governance, almost by definition. If leaders are fit to govern, they generally don’t need populism to get elected.

“It’s all about style and swagger and atmospherics, with superficial solutions to things, with lots of sloganeering, and obviously dealing with a pandemic is pretty methodical and boring. It requires an awful lot of planning and logistical organization and you can’t just sort of do it on the fly with an ad hoc coalition.”

What interests Hill is how the three such different countries end up in the same boat, run by populists and significantly less able to cope with a pandemic than their neighbours. She believes the critical common factor is the heady rise, and then the catastrophic collapse, of heavy industry and the failure of their governments to manage the fall and cushion the impact on their people.

It is a story she feels destined to tell, as a child of deindustrialisation, growing up poor in the Durham town of Bishop Auckland at the time its mines and steelworks were closing down, destroying jobs, communities and shared identities.

Should There Be a Congressional Investigation of Covid-19 Response?

Posted on June 12, 2020 by recoverydiva

From HSNW: Congress Should Investigate the Trump Administration’s Coronavirus Response

Charlie Martel, who in 2008-2009 led the staff of a bipartisan Senate investigation of the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, writes that “Today, as with Katrina, the nation is faced with a deeply flawed federal response to an ongoing crisis with catastrophic consequences on a historic scale.” He adds: “Having apparently discarded the careful pandemic planning it inherited, the Trump administration has no evident strategy guiding its response to the complex crises created by the coronavirus. Administration statements and decisions have been impulsive, contradictory and in some instances dangerous. Congressional oversight is necessary to review the federal response and correct it where necessary.”