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In what is being called the worst financial crisis since 1929, the US stock market has lost a third of its value in the space of a month, wiping out all of its gains of the last three years. When the Federal Reserve tried to ride to the rescue, it only succeeded in making matters worse. The government then pulled out all the stops. To our staunchly capitalist leaders, socialism is suddenly looking good.
The financial crisis began in late February, when the World Health Organization announced that it was time to prepare for a global pandemic. The Russia-Saudi oil price war added fuel to the flames, causing all three Wall Street indices to fall more than 7 percent on March 9. It was called Black Monday, the worst drop since the Great Recession in 2008; but it would get worse.
On March 12, the Fed announced new capital injections totaling an unprecedented $1.5 trillion in the repo market, where banks now borrow to stay afloat. The market responded by driving stocks 8% lower.
On Sunday, March 15, the Fed emptied its bazooka by lowering the fed funds rate nearly to zero and announcing that it would be purchasing $700 billion in assets, including federal securities of all maturities, restarting its quantitative easing program. It also eliminated bank reserve requirements and slashed Interest on Excess Reserves (the interest it pays to banks for parking their cash at the Fed) to 0.10%. The result was to cause the stock market to open on Monday nearly 10% lower. Rather than projecting confidence, the Fed’s measures were generating panic.
As financial analyst George Gammon observes, the Fed’s massive $1.5 trillion in expanded repo operations had few takers. Why? He says the shortage in the repo market was not in “liquidity” (money available to lend) but in “pristine collateral” (the securities that must be put up for the loans). Pristine collateral consists mainly of short-term Treasury bills. The Fed can inject as much liquidity as it likes, but it cannot create T-bills, something only the Treasury can do. That means the government (which is already $23 trillion in debt) must add yet more debt to its balance sheet in order to rescue the repo market that now funds the banks.
The Fed’s tools alone are obviously incapable of stemming the bloodletting from the forced shutdown of businesses across the country. Fed chair Jerome Powell admitted as much at his March 15 press conference, stating, “[W]e don’t have the tools to reach individuals and particularly small businesses and other businesses and people who may be out of work …. We do think fiscal response is critical.” “Fiscal policy” means the administration and Congress must step up to the plate.
What about using the Fed’s “nuclear option” – a “helicopter drop” of money to support people directly? A March 16 article in Axios quoted former Fed senior economist Claudia Sahm:
The political ramifications of the Fed essentially printing money and giving it to people – there are ways to do it, but the problem is if the Fed does this and Congress still has not passed anything … that would mean the Fed has stepped in and done something that Congress didn’t want to do. If they did helicopter money without congressional approval, Congress could, and rightly so, end the Fed.
The government must act first, before the Fed can use its money-printing machine to benefit the people and the economy directly.
The Fed, Congress and the Administration Need to Work as a Team
On March 13, President Trump did act, declaring a national emergency that opened access to as much as $50 billion “for states and territories and localities in our shared fight against this disease.” The Dow Jones Industrial Average responded by ending the day up nearly 2,000 points, or 9.4 percent.
The same day, Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard proposed a universal basic income of $1,000 per month for every American for the duration of the crisis. She said, “Too much attention has been focused here in Washington on bailing out Wall Street banks and corporate industries as people are making the same old tired argument of how trickle-down economics will eventually help the American people.” Meanwhile the American taxpayer “gets left holding the bag, struggling and getting no help during a time of crisis.” H.R. 897, her bill for an emergency UBI, she said was the most simple, direct form of assistance to help weather the storm.
German mathematician Daniel Regenberg contacted me to share his data on how many people are likely to get infected. I was very skeptical and did not believe it. But when I checked his numbers against publicly available data, and checked his math, I could not find any flaws. I felt it was important to share this data and he agreed to let me do it.
24 thousand people in the world have died as of March 26th, and 500K infections. But this is the tip of the iceberg. Surprisingly, the growth rate of infections is about the same everywhere - 25% to 30% per day. I am using an average of 27%. This means that every three days, the number of people getting infected with the virus doubles – according to this equation: 1.27^3 – 2.05. And every 10 days, the number infected goes up by 10X.
So in the U.S., the number of infected people as of March 25th is about 62,000, in 10 days will be 675,000, and in another 10 days, it will be 7.3 million, And in 10 more ays it will be 80 million. This is a 1300X increase in one month!
But here’s the important point to remember, a university of Massachusetts Amherst study shows that the median incubation period for the virus is about 5-12 days. This means that the number of people infected with the virus in the US, is likely to be 4 times what the current numbers show.
#coronavirus
#covid19
#sarscov2
If we do not all make some sacrifices in terms of doing our part to stay socially isolated, the number of infected people in the US could soar.
Steven Dick, 37, passed away on Tuesday after contracting Covid-19, the UK Foreign Office said.
London (CNN)A senior British diplomat stationed in Hungary has died after contracting coronavirus, the UK’s Foreign Office said on Wednesday.
Steven Dick, aged 37, was the Deputy Head of Mission for the British embassy in Budapest.
He passed away on Tuesday after contracting Covid-19, the Foreign Office said.
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “I am desperately saddened by the news of Steven’s death and my heart goes out to his parents Steven and Carol. Steven was a dedicated diplomat and represented his country with great skill and passion. He will be missed by all those who knew him and worked with him.” Dick joined the Foreign Office in 2008 and has also worked in British embassies in Riyadh and Kabul, according to his biography on the UK government’s website.
His role of Deputy Head of Mission made him a key adviser to the UK’s Ambassador to Hungary, Iain Lindsay. Dick has also worked in the UK government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
“Steven was a much-loved son, grandson and nephew,” Dick’s parents said in a statement to the UK’s PA news agency.
“He was kind, funny and generous. It was always his dream to work for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and he was very happy representing our country overseas.”
The UK has recorded more than 8,000 coronavirus cases and 435 deaths, while Hungary has 226 cases and 10 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University on March 25.
Britain’s Prince Charles tests positive for coronavirus
Charles and other senior royals kept up a busy schedule of engagements until earlier this month, when they cut off public events as the coronavirus outbreak intensified. Photo: Britain’s Prince Charles gestures as he greets musician Ronnie Wood as he arrives at the annual Prince’s Trust Awards 2020 held at the London Palladium, March 11, 2020. (Yui Mok/PA via AP, File)
LONDON — Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, has tested positive for the new coronavirus, royal officials confirmed Wednesday — touching off criticism over whether his wealth and status gave him priority in receiving a test.
The 71-year-old is showing mild symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, and is self-isolating at a royal estate in Scotland, the prince’s Clarence House office said. His wife, Camilla, 72, has tested negative.
“The Prince of Wales has tested positive for Coronavirus,’’ Clarence House said.
It said he “otherwise remains in good health and has been working from home throughout the last few days as usual.’‘
Britain’s Press Association, citing a source, said the prince and the duchess remained in good spirits, and that Charles was not bedridden.
British government advice advises people over 70 to take social distancing measures especially seriously.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can be more severe, causing pneumonia and sometimes death.
Trump’s “spiritual adviser” (and head of the White House’s “Faith and Opportunity Initiative” program) Paula White asked for cash during a coronavirus-related prayer session this afternoon: “Maybe you’d like to sow a $91 seed… Or maybe $9. Or whatever God tells you to do.”
Donald Trump touts ‘beautiful timeline’ to lift coronavirus restrictions by Easter and have ‘packed churches’
Donald Trump said he wants his nation “opened up and raring to go by Easter” as he spoke about an end to coronavirus lockdown measures across the United States.
The US President spoke about his desire to loosen guidelines, touting the prospect of “packed churches” for the holiday.
“I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter”, he said in a virtual town hall held by Fox News.
In a later interview on Fox News he said “Wouldn’t it be great to have all the churches full?”
“You’ll have packed churches all over the country. I think it would be a beautiful time. And it’s just about the timeline I think is right”.
Not content with being “the new Cyrus” it appears Trump also wants to be the new James I and own the title of “the wisest fool in Christendom”. - mancinblack
Ellen Brown is an attorney, chairman of the Public Banking Institute; author of twelve books including “Web of Debt” and “The Public Bank Solution.”
Charles and other senior royals kept up a busy schedule of engagements until earlier this month, when they cut off public events as the coronavirus outbreak intensified. Photo: Britain’s Prince Charles gestures as he greets musician Ronnie Wood as he arrives at the annual Prince’s Trust Awards 2020 held at the London Palladium, March 11, 2020. (Yui Mok/PA via AP, File)
Will Trump’s appeal to Christian Zionist base cull