If you pay people for the better part of two years to stay at home, and cover the cost by printing money, there is bound to be inflation, says Daniel Hannan in the Telegraph. But the same people who called for longer and harder lockdowns are now the ones complaining loudest about the crisis, he writes. Here’s an excerpt:
I can put up with a certain amount of inconsistency, muddle-headedness and even hypocrisy in politics… But I draw the line when pundits self-righteously demand more action on net zero while at the same time complaining of ‘fuel poverty’. I bridle when lobbyists rage against the Australia and New Zealand trade deals because they will ‘flood’ us with ‘cheap food’, and then have the nerve to moan about ‘food poverty’.
The absolute worst, though, are those who spent two years demanding a longer and stricter lockdown, and who now shamelessly protest about the cost of living crisis, as though it were a random act of cruelty inflicted on the country out of sadism. They include Keir Starmer, the BBC, Sky News and, I’m afraid, a chunk of the general public.
Do I sound insensitive? Too bad. Insensitive or not, someone has to point out that we can’t run the country on the basis of a series of contradictory feel-good opinions, and then exculpate ourselves from their consequences on grounds that we meant well.
If you pay people for the better part of two years to stay home, and cover the cost by printing more money, there is bound to be inflation. The current price rises are not an unforeseeable consequence of the war in Ukraine, at least not in the main. Switzerland is as affected by global energy prices as other European countries, but currently has an overall inflation rate of just 2.4%. Why? Because it did not go in for money-printing. As the Nobel prizewinning economist Milton Friedman put it: “Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon, in the sense that it is, and can be, produced only by a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output.”
I realise that few want to hear that right now. The lockdown, as this column kept mournfully forecasting at the time, has created a more statist electorate. Many “one-off” spending increases have, entirely predictably, become permanent. Spinning the taps open is easier than screwing them shut again, because supposedly temporary subsidies come to be seen by their recipients as part of our immemorial constitution.
After two years of lockdown, a lot of voters evidently want to be paid to stay at home. They like the idea – propagated throughout the pandemic – that the Government can solve almost every problem by spending more money. Why should they see inflation any differently?
MPs are sensitive to public opinion. Hence the sudden consensus among all parties that the way to tackle of living crisis is to raise taxes even higher and distribute the proceeds to selected groups. Never mind that taxes are the single biggest part of most household budgets and that hiking them worsens the underlying problem. Such thinking went out in 2020.
Worth reading in full.
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Some dangerous common sense from Hannan. This won’t do.
Doesn’t he understand that not locking down would have led to climate change and dangerous levels of transphobia? What’s a smaller pension and an unrelenting sense of unavoidable catastrophe compared to that?
Time Hannan checked his white privilege!
In many people’s opinion the problem started in 1971 when the US completely abandoned the gold standard. The dollar became controlled by political will alone. Then things took a bigger downturn in 2008, some say 2000, when the Q.E. started ramping. Covid and now Ukraine the final nails in the coffin.
The question is; incompetence, narcissism or evil plan?
I note that many billionaires are shifting much into physical assets. That speaks volumes. They know what is coming.
Meanwhile the sheep continue to think their governments have their best interests at heart. They’re going to learn some hard truths soon. Maybe not, some are so brainwashed they could be starved to death and told it’s Putin or even that it’s good for them and believe it. The government no longer recognises itself as a servant of the people rather it sees itself as our ruler. That is going to lead to the West becoming as dysfunctional as the Soviet Union or North Korea with all the happiness of those states.
It needs to be stopped but hard while the sheep trust the media. I wonder how many are just useful idiots and how many want a corporate communism thinking they will benefit. I would remind them how it went with Stalin. A bullet to the head or the gulag was never far away no matter the rank.
Hmm… HOL report on CBDC “A Solution looking for a problem”
“The question is; incompetence, narcissism or evil plan?”
Definitely an evil plan, promoted by subservience to the various globalists wanting to rule over us, together with a large dose of incompetence.
I established a business to train practitioners in the management of large, complex defence projects. We set it up from scratch and became the best in the world.
Lockdowns killed face to face training and my business.
Meanwhile, in a reply to a letter, Chris Heaton Harris, my MP and Chief Whip, told me he was proud of the government’s achievements.
I’m a small c conservative but this shower is not conservative. Starmer, LidDems, Greens and SNP wanted more severe lockdowns.
We have a beautiful nation cursed by its politicians.
We HAD a beautiful nation. I watch daily as more immigrants from subsaharan Africa appear in my amazing city. I’m told immigration laws are tough, only skilled workers. But somehow Somalis who speak no English are here with their wives and children. I note they are building special flats for refugees from distant lands while we Britons become poorer.
I too am self-employed and lost my livelihood for 14 months during the lockdowns. I didn’t qualify for any kind of help. As a forward thinking fellow I had a slush fund for just such an emergency.
But I suppose people like me are now old fashioned. The current conservative party clearly think so.
“Diversity Built Britain”, says Rishi. No shortage of Indian restaurants, Chinese takeaways, and kebab shops in any British town. Not to mention all the ‘Euro Markets’ (Polish shops).
And every second shop in the High Street is a charity shop, so lots of bargains to be found!
I’m a little sick of hearing about the importance of diversity from Asians who have done well. If you’ve ever worked with them you’ll be hard pushed to find people who think more like economic migrants. They have absolutely no interest in assimilation and view us as mugs.
A Sikh fellow I once worked with was unusually blunt. As he said, Indians would never accept white Europeans in their parliament. And here we are, our chancellor is an Indian chancer. To his credit he viewed it as temporary as he said we’d eventually come to our senses and deport the lot.
Are you surprised they view us as mugs when our own elected MPs do?
You forgot to say that you are not racist.
Your Sikh friend may be correct but I doubt there are many white naturalised Indians to draw from.
I agree that I would like to see more assimilation of immigrants and it is happening but seems slow. If you want British citizenship you should be prepared to adopt the culture and assimilate. That doesn’t mean completely ignore your ethnic culture, just that it has to take 2nd place when push comes to shove.
Diversity did not build Britain. It may have added colour and made life more interesting but it was the exact opposite that built Britain. It was nationalism, self interest and belief in Anglo Saxon superiority that built Britain – not saying that is right and certainly not appropriate anymore. Since the WW2 it’s been downhill in terms of “building”. A much nicer place until very recently though.
Illegal immigration is a problem. Legal immigration is less a problem, unless you want to stop the migration of Brits overseas.
When immigration/migration is managed it’s no big deal. The natural ebb and flow of human exchange.
Refugees are a different matter and shouldn’t be confused with immigrants, legal or otherwise.
Personally, I’m happy to give safe haven to genuine refugees from war or disaster A safe haven, as most are only interested in going back to rebuild their country.
The problem is, wars perpetrated by the western military industrial complex are now unending because they are worth too much money, ergo, no repatriation is ever possible.
I hope you have your livelihood back now. Dreadful to think someone as thoughtful as you couldn’t contribute to British society.
I don’t agree. The volume of immigration is the problem as is the origin of the immigrants. Africans are a disaster wherever they go and typically become a multigenerational drain on the state. Muslims are especially problematic. I’ve had too much experience of both in professional environments to dismiss the cultural aspects.
We also have the woke problem. They are now advertising jobs just for non-whites. That’s while they are a minority. What will it be like when we are the minority?
Assimilated foreigners are fine. But millions of third world peasants is not fine. I believe we are creating the conditions for a civil war.
Refugees? Absolutely, as long as they go back when they get back on their feet. That is charity, which I don’t object to.
And thanks for your kind words. I survived as most did. If it doesn’t kill you it makes you stronger.
I was in the same boat as you, but thankfully I’m loaded so I could get through it. What I object to though is the fact that I was expected to use my hard earned savings whilst those who stuff chickens in a factory for a living and waste every last pay cheque on tanning salons and sky were afforded tens of thousands of pounds to bail them out at precisely the time they ought to have been taught a hard lesson.
I also completely share your views on immigration. Muslims seek to displace us and the other lot are simply lazy the world over, they never contribute anything anywhere. Name one major economy run by them!
Society is doomed when it bends over backwards for each and every minority. In the UK we must stop apologising for and agreeing to delete our own history, wealth and culture and start taking the very simple hard line, “if you don’t like it, you know where the door is”
“if you don’t like it, you know where the door is”
Indeed; that’s how it works in sensibly governed countries.
It’s all about votes.
“If” things go badly and we become totalitarian those of low productivity will get a shock. They will also find there isn’t much spare cash for tanning salons and fags. They may get UBI in the short term but I don’t see a totalitarian corporate state giving much away for no return.
” Africans are a disaster wherever they go and typically become a multigenerational drain on the state.”
But not the Ugandan Asians (if you count them).
“They are now advertising jobs just for non-whites.”
Apparently some schools in the “USA” are segregating whites and blacks in the name of “woke” or something. Strange how history repeats itself…
As I’ve said before, if we don’t want to end up a minority, we need to stop killing our own in such numbers instead of outsourcing child-rearing to third world countries (of course we could take the Jappanese route, but I’m still not convinced it will work long-term).
I thought racial discrimination was supposed to be universal but now we see it is a one-way street.
I agree open borders will cause problems. Culture matters. Legal immigrants that are able to contribute, tolerant and accepting of our culture are welcome.
“The problem is, wars perpetrated by the western military industrial complex are now unending because they are worth too much money”
It’s as bad as that? Deary me. And is there any realistic chance of this situation ending, or will any government that gets in inevitably end up being nobbled (or indeed the system rigged so that only their people get in)?
And could “western military industrial complex”vpossibly just as well read ” ‘American’ military industrial complex”?
I’m sure there have been governments elected in some countries on a ticket to root out corruption. Do they ever get anywhere?
“I’m sure there have been governments elected in some countries on a ticket to root out corruption. Do they ever get anywhere?”
No, how can they. It’s the deep state problem. Politicians are the front only. Zelensky is an extreme example. Actor turned president, elected on a platform of peace and reconciliation. Then he received new orders. Bit like Boris, elected on re-establishing sovereignty and then tries to pass it to Bill Gates and the WHO.
My story matches yours. I was Conservative, never ever again. Sunak has allowed himself to be pushed into destroying the economy, although with IR35 he was happy to implement the changes. My Conservative MP told me that it was my fault I did not get furlough for structuring my company that way, and that it was Conservative policy to print money, just not Thatcherite. These people are spineless traitors, and half the cabinet not even British.
I got a fairly similar response from my MP along with the extra kick in the balls that “we can’t help everybody”
I pointed out that nobody was musing in 2019 whether they ought to consider their company tax structure in the event that a wold pandemic might lead to it excluding them from being considered a viable citizen. I further pointed out that the structure was not an issue for the past twenty years when they were collecting more in corporation taxes from me than most people even earn as gross salary.
Taxes can only go up and lifestyle down now. We are drowning under the weight of beggars, scroungers and bone idle chancers who have found a new voice to air their rubbish thanks to the media and a weak, socialist Tory party.
The cabinet is British by the accepted definition. The problem is where their loyalty lies and it appears to be global. But it only lies there because they see it as furthering their lust for power and money.
That is a sad indictment of British governance. Nor do I mean Government, I mean the civil service that largely runs the country. And I stand to be corrected by your experience.
I have, and have had, a number of ‘creations’ (not inventions, as all have only been improvements on existing products) but have been frustrated by government regulations or, more importantly, my ability to deal with them.
I have a modest ‘reinvention’ of a product in daily use in healthcare across the world. So simple it’s silly, but often improvements to existing products are.
It’s a global product and would save the NHS alone £millions every year by alleviating staff musculoskeletal injuries. It’s also a cheap replacement for existing ‘technology’ (welded tubular steel).
Is the government or the NHS interested?
After about five years of trying, I still don’t know.
Is it a baseball bat in place of metal truncheons?!
I am sorry for your loss and for your nation’s.
So many first-class businesses were killed by lockdowns, that I am concerned about the damage done to the entrepreneurial spirit.
The knowledge that state power, on a whim, can shut you down or effectively cripple you has almost certainly deterred enormous numbers of enterprising individuals and groups.
Governments must have known this would happen. The devastation of small and medium-sized business appears to have been an intended consequence at worst; at best, something they simply didn’t care about.
You do have a beautiful nation – one I loved to visit, and whose people I enjoyed, and could laugh with on all manner of subjects.
I also have a beautiful nation. I loved Australia. But we too are cursed by its politicians, and I look at it uneasily now.
At our election last week, I saw the same good nature and willingness to exchange pleasantries – then stared at my ballot paper, filled with so many shameless names, and voted in what has turned out to be unavailing protest.
I hope that we have not been irretrievably damaged. But damage has been done, as surely as if we had been at war.
In fact, governments declared war on their people – and at this point, they clearly have the upper hand. I have no trust whatsoever in my governments (at federal, state or local level), or in their institutions. I regard them instead as a hostile occupying force.
It wasn’t state power though. It was global power.
Channelled via the state though. The decisions were taken here so we must hold our own lot accountable wherever possible.
They all run in lockstep now so any downturn in one will effect all
So when they start guillotining them in France does that mean we get to hang, draw and quarter them simultaneously?
I’m hoping so
Yes. Although I would hope for a less violent way.
One thing, if this was ever reversed completely is to remove all power and wealth from the families of the prime movers. Don’t let a later generation start it all again.
That’s globalism. It will be catastrophic. All resilience will be lost. Witness how easily things have been disrupted. Everything the same is not good.
Yes – state power operating on behalf of global power.
Absolutely spot on.
I too see it as governments declaring war on their people – under the guise of “pretending” to help them (all those jabs, all that furlough money – very clever) with the net effect that if I was to go down my high street and do a straw poll I doubt I could find anyone who would realise that is what has been done to them. That being the case, how can we mount anything resembling an effective fightback?
We’re already fighting back ; we’re just not as effective as we want to be.
I would like governments to surrender, unconditionally, right now. I want them to confess their grievous sins against their peoples and submit themselves to public trial and punishment.
We don’t have the numbers for that, so I’m concentrating on increasing those numbers wherever an opportunity presents itself.
I think that’s what we’re all doing. We come here to share information and experiences.
And I do find surprising levels of agreement on one line: “This must never happen again.” I deliberately don’t go into details – because the details at this stage will divide us. But they know very well that “this” means lockdowns.
I have no doubts it would be convenient to remove any low productivity people. They haven’t been able to solve the pension deficit and the social services issues They want us as cattle. You live until no longer meeting productivity thresholds.
“That being the case, how can we mount anything resembling an effective fightback?”
You can only gently try to awaken people. They won’t be receptive to the whole thing, it’s too much, but more and more are starting to sense something is amiss.
The governments want a minimal number of large corporations. It helps remove independence and makes it easier to strike deals and hatch plans. They can’t hope to reach agreements with thousands of retailers but a handful of large …
Governments have probably been surprised at how easy it was to push us around. They followed well known tricks as used by despotic regimes everywhere. They are emboldened by this.
People were scared and complied now they will lose all freedoms unless there is a miracle.
Yes – I recently watched a “Conservative MP”address the faithful praising Johnson’s bold leadership in lockdown and the wonderful vaccine roll out. The Tory worthies present could hardly mange a limp clap or two – some even rolled their eyes!
This Tory party “new 2019″intake batch of MPs is full of deluded sycophants, who will say anything to further their careers.
The Tories will be struggling to get their leaflets delivered next time around unless very big changes are made.
Johnson’s Gang are losing touch with reality!
I was in the Tories for a couple of years … I delivered some leaflets, but never once met anyone. I am so appalled at the “Tory” party now, that I will never vote Tory again.
It’s beyond party politics.
Exactly. Anybody thinking salvation will come via the ballot box is deluded.
couldn’t agree more, arrogant pursuit of money, they see it as a career, self service not public service.
He’s my MP too – absolutely useless.
I’m really sorry to hear about your business.
chanelling Mandy Rice-Davies…
Well, they would say that, wouldn’t they.
It was a lockup … and if people started calling it was it was, they would realise just how appalling anti-British concept it was.
But they are printing more money to give us all a share cope with inflation. That will certainly solve the problem.
The word on the street amongst other dog walkers is that the cost of living crisis is one of several planned consequences of the impending global corporate fascist power grab.
We will all be begging for the stability of a tyranical technocracy when there is no affordable food and our useless ‘democratic’ governments are replaced by medical martial law under a one world government.
Still mustn’t grumble
It is a theory we should consider and discuss more openly. It is easy to write off the lockdowns and associated tomfoolery as powermad politicians out of control.
But many decisions clearly made no real sense. An initial lockdown, perhaps. But subsequent lockdowns were based on no real data. Even the first lockdown was preceded by the Diamond Princess incident, where epidemiologists had concluded there was little to worry about.
The masks were bizarre as was the vax. Dangerously so.
Why did it happen? Some suggest it is to discredit national governments. If the bodies start piling up most leading politicians will be murdered. Leaving a vacuum.
But the best laid plans rarely work out. We are just as likely to go in the other direction and go local.
But it is one theory worth considering.
I think the answer is fairly straightforward.
Every government in the world knew the potential of the covid virus, because they all operate Bio labs.
They shit themselves when covid escaped (and I do think it escaped rather than be intentionally released) and took the most extreme actions because they believed the worst.
America banned onshore Bio labs decades ago after an escape, but offshoring them is fine, until Russia invades knowing full well what’s there.
Had an American citizen written to their POTUS (any POTUS) and asked about Bio labs, what do we imagine the response would be?
Therein lies the problem of the western world, at least.
You may be interested in the view of Ron Unz who makes the case for the US releasing it in Wuhan. Shortly after it devastated senior members of Iran’s military despite them having a negligible Chinese population.
It changed my view on the whole thing. Compelling and rational. Although speculative of course.
I never knew the “World Military Games” were a thing until I found out in early 2020 they were and the most recent event opened in Wuhan on October 18th 2019, the same day Event 201 was staged. Those coincidences again! There was some interesting footage emerge of US civilians (military?) doing dubious things on the tube there at that time.
Worth reading “The Year the World went Mad” by Mark Woolhouse, a senior government scientist. His conclusion is that lockdowns were not necessary. I expect BoJo was acting in instructions from his globalist mates.
It Johnson. “Bojo” is part of Johnson’s own self marketing campaign … intended to make that globalist, elitist smuggist twat into a “friendly likeable chap”.
Good to hear. Unfortunately I am a past dog walker without a dog.
Sorry for your loss and being houndless. Never too late to adopt one from a rescue centre. Blessings friend.
As Johnson sanctions Russia to cut off our noses off to spite our faces, the madness decrepitates the economy. Hannan makes some pretty good points but myrtle never joins the dots, he’s a Tory after all.
For two years they HMG informed us to take the medicine, stay indoors and we’ll take care of all the rest of it and the nation believed it. They continue to wrap a nation in swaddling and with more promises, promises and manna tomorrow and tomorrow never comes in a political myth making lie factory and more quack financial medicine will be force fed but not healing, just further debilitating the country.
The execurtive, never for one minute believe that they actually give a stuff, they don’t and left or con: they never did. At some point the ious are going to be called in. Government’s have no money, guess who is going to pay? The nation is bankrupt and run by people with bankrupt minds. It’s a train to disaster and is the destination, the only question is, how soon will we hit the barrier?
MPs remind me of the morons trying to decide whether someone was a which because they were a duck and ducks float (or something like that).
Or whether we should pay for them to provide a nice house for aforesaid ducks.
That is what is called the bl**ding obvious. But since only a small proportion of the population seem to have realised it, hats off to Mr Hannan for saying it.
Look too at how this is all mediated. What happens is that the government borrows hugely, and then when people are eventually allowed out of house arrest they find they have to work longer hours in order to eat and keep their shelter.
With the surplus that’s produced during those hours (because some workers don’t “work” in offices and are still, y’know, productive), the government pays interest to the moneylenders on the money it borrowed.
Lockdown is similar to “Bailout” 2, if one can call a trillion-sized heist by moneylending parasites a “bailout”. (Lockdown also has other important aspects.)
So it’s all right for some.
After their third bite, how much of the host is actually likely to be left?
Someone who I work with is one of these people! Moans that the music venue he visits might be shutting down because people won’t go because of having no money. I tell him every time that he demanded the lockdown so he should be sucking up what comes his way. I despise everyone of those demanding restrictions on our lives. Especially as become clear as day restrictions did sweet FA!!!
Anyone who has done the first month of a GCSE Economics should know that increasing the money supply risks inflation. How it slipped by our leaders is regrettable, but looks more like deliberate acts than incompetence. I hope I’m wrong.
(I’m not…)
You’re definitely not.
More incredulous is how it slipped by the committee of muppets in the BoE
All those politicians who’ve done PPE degrees but done this anyway, one has to question their motives.
We have a financial crisis that was caused by the Government printing and borrowing money. But don’t worry, the Government is fixing the problem – by printing and borrowing more money.
You really couldn’t make it up.
its only a question of when the wheels fall off completely and the majority start realising its not all fun and games, by which point its not going to be pretty.
“Electorate, do you want free money?” Always a vote winner. What’s the solution?
Teach economics at school maybe, I suspect there’s at least 2 competing models there so that’s probably no good (Socialism and ConSocialism?).
Tough leaders that act in the countries’ best interests? We’d need 20 years terms for that.
If people don’t care about what they can do for themselves, their community and their country then the game is over I reckon and with the push to hate anything traditionally British (self respect, selflessness, family values, hard work, sacrifice, our history, responsibility etc) it’s already over, bar the shouting and rioting.
Just a reminder that ‘Covid’ is far from over. All eyes on the European Union Vaxx Pass which has been extended to June 2023. Used for travel. It expires after 270 days of your last jab, so you have to make the decision to get another jab, or let your Pass expire.
Test & Trace are still lurking in the background (on a very handsome Government contract)… and the PCR ‘megalab’ in Leamington Spa is still open for samples of your snot on the end of a cotton bud!
Are Covid marshalls still employed by your council?
https://uk.indeed.com/Covid-Marshall-jobs-in-England?vjk=0db67b7268a62bde
Who would downvote this? Downvoting informative comments always surprises me.
You reap what you sow. All the idiots calling for longer harder Lockdowns,in which people were paid to do nothing,are now having to repay,with lots of interest,to replenish the magic money trees. Shut up and pay up !
Revenge (even if it impacts on ourselves,which obviously, it does) is a dish best eaten very,very cold!!
BRING IT ON!!!!
And it will literally be cold this winter when nobody can afford to heat their homes and workplaces. I am sure BoJo will be warm and toasty at Chequers though as it is you and I who will pay his heating bill.
“Switzerland is as affected by global energy prices as other European countries, but currently has an overall inflation rate of just 2.4%.”
Not true. Fossil fuels – the artificial shortage of which, IMHO, led to the current inflation crisis, represent just over 1% of Switzerland’s power generation sources. The biggest contributors by far are nuclear (37%) and hydro (58%) neither of which are subject to the factors that have increased the cost of fossil fuels.
Actually he is completely wrong. To anybody on a low income taxes are not the biggest part of their spending. Apart from VAT on any goods bought they don’t even appear on the radar! Ask any pensioner who didn’t have a 2/3 final salary scheme they spent 40 years building.
I’m not so sure – council tax, car tax, BBC tax, VAT, fuel taxes, green levies, …….
This needs to be discussed at every level. Completely obvious that our economy would be s**t after 2 years of covid nonesense.
They can claim all the success they like.
If you work in the service sector you’ll find it very difficult to hire enough people to operate normally.
And it’s only going to get worse.
Lockup & printing money to pay for it is to blame for inflation, but Green policies that prevented domestic production of fossil fuels and then the insane Ukraine conflict sanctions (which hit us more than Russia) are also to blame through rising energy prices, which have widespread knock on effects to other prices.
My local council in South West Scotland now has people employed to go round sticking up posters with such vitally useful directives as “Keep your area clean” and “Remember to wash your hands”. I am expecting “Remember to wipe your arse” and “When you breathe in, don’t forget to breathe out”. The obvious drive to flush as much money down the drain as possible continues.
Well, council management can’t just fill their time doodling you know! I am reminded once again of Reagan’s “Don’t just do something, stand there!”.
No sh*t, Sherlock.
https://expose-news.com/2022/05/29/monkeypox-coverup-for-aids-caused-by-covid-vaccine/
Wouldn’t explain how most of the cases are in chutney ferrets, unless of course that fuck is yet another media lie!
Whitty and Valance, they are ‘the science‘ behind this, and will have killed more people from poverty by hunger and cold than ‘the virus’. But hey, knighthoods all round. Will they ever stop to think what they have unleashed? Will it ever occur to them? Responsibility lies with these two and ultimately Johnson. This is not our finest hour, they should never have been allowed to get away with it.
It may be the case that lockdowns will turn out to be more damaging than the disease.
BUT to make such a claim, would need some detailed analysis done in about 10years time.
Until then such statements can’t be justified. In the meantime, have a think about what factors you will consider.
It’s beyond any reasonable doubt and was by about mid April 2020
So how do you calculate the harms vs. the benefits?
Share your analysis or expect your message to be ignored by everyone, expect on this tiny tiny tiny subsection of society.
It may be that lockdowns were a problem, but any decision you made in April 2020 was unjustified.
It was based on the fact that by then we had real data on the mortality rate of this killer virus and we could see it would be no worse than a bad seasonal flu.
You didn’t need to do a cost/benefit analysis to work out that destroying an economy, people’s mental wellbeing and of course rupturing a country’s health system beyond repair was going to cause a great deal more harm than letting a few old people meet their end.
Which of course is why a cost/benefit analysis was never done.
‘….raise taxes even higher and distribute the proceeds to selected groups”
Sounds like the redistribution of wealth – on our way to a classless, moneyless society. Communism, perchance?
Allow them to work from home if they are willing to forfeit 20%pf their weekly salary for every day they work from home. So, 2 days a week means losing 40% of that weeks money.
https://default.salsalabs.org/Tb5be00fe-1789-402e-b0c6-3651872a63ec/00450f35-8432-4dc7-bae3-eafd93ae53b8
monkeyposx simulation one year ago. Interesting read.
Who’d have thought that deliberately trashing the economy would lead to a cost of living crisis?