Tidbits
Political Quotations
To Accompany the March 31, 2020 Edition of Tidbits
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2020/Tidbits033120.htm
Bob Jensen at
Trinity University
My Latest Web Document
Over 500 Examples of Critical Thinking and Illustrations of How to Mislead With
Statistics ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/MisleadWithStatistics.htm
Animated Visualization of the United States’ Exploding Population Growth
Over 200 Years (1790 – 2010) ---
A Visualization of the United States’ Exploding Population Growth Over 200 Years
(1790 – 2010)
USA Debt Clock --- http://www.usdebtclock.org/
The published national debt is a lie
Here's the real federal debt ---
https://www.truthinaccounting.org/about/our_national_debt
In September 2017 the USA National Debt exceeded $22 trillion for the first time
---
http://www.statedatalab.org/news/detail/national-debt-surpasses-20-trillion-for-the-first-time-in-us-history
Human Population Over Time on Earth ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUwmA3Q0_OE
Here's a humorous and serious TED talk that seriously argues why the world needs billionaires
https://www.ted.com/talks/harald_eia_where_in_the_world_is_it_easiest_to_get_rich
Why did Cuba abandon its socialist/communist dream of equality for everybody?
The Guardian: This was the egalitarian dream of Cuba in the 1960s: For years in
Cuba, jobs as varied as farm workers and doctors only had a difference in their
wages of the equivalent of a few US dollars a month.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jun/12/cuba
Here's a somber and serious Guardian article on why the Cuban
model of income equality for all is a disaster ---
Fidel Castro says his economic system is failing ---
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/sep/09/fidel-castro-cuba-economic-model
The Singapore Dream: How Singapore's richest man went
from welding in a factory for $14 per hour to owning a $17 billion hotpot
restaurant chain ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/life-of-singapore-richest-man-from-welder-to-hotpot-billionaire-2020-1
While a
move is underway to destroy the American Dream of rags to riches (by taxing away
the riches) the Chinese dream is on the rise.
The Chinese Dream
How a Chinese billionaire went from making $16 a month in a factory to being one
of the world's richest self-made women with an $8.3 billion real-estate empire
---
https://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-richest-self-made-woman-wu-yajun-net-worth-2019-2
Top 50 Billionaires in China ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_by_net_worth
Jensen
Comment
The question for students to debate is why a supposed
communist country allows so many billionaires to rise up from poverty.
That's supposed to happen in the USA where a child growing up in deep
poverty (think Oprah Winfrey or Howard Shultz) became a multi-billionaires.
But is it also supposed to happen under communism? If
so, why?
One reason is that many billionaires can afford to pour lots of money into high risk ventures. When's the last time you heard about a high risk (think Silicon Valley) venture in Europe?
Wikiquote from Wikipedia --- https://www.wikiquote.org/
Excellent, Cross-Disciplinary Overview of Scientific
Reproducibility in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ---
https://replicationnetwork.com/2018/12/15/excellent-cross-disciplinary-overview-of-scientific-reproducibility-in-the-stanford-encyclopedia-of-philosophy/
[Researchers] are rewarded for being
productive rather than being right, for building ever upward instead of checking
the foundations.---
Decades of early research on the genetics of depression were built on
nonexistent foundations. How did that happen?
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/05/waste-1000-studies/589684/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20191022&silverid-ref=NTk4MzY1OTg0MzY5S0
Bob Jensen: My take on research validation or lack
thereof is at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm
Tom Lehrer on Mathematical Models and Statistics ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfZWyUXn3So
You must watch this to the ending to appreciate it.
Kobe Bryant: We need to make the most of
every minute we have ---
https://www.newsweek.com/i-wont-take-see-you-later-granted-148449
Hermann Weyl born in Hamburg, Germany. He wrote,
"One may say that mathematics talks about the things which are of no concern to
men. Mathematics has the inhuman quality of starlight---brilliant, sharp, but
cold ... thus we are clearest where knowledge matters least: in mathematics,
especially number theory." ---
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Weyl.html
Also see Mathematical Analytics in Plato's Cave
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm#Analytics
And nevertheless conclude that the optimum
amount of restriction of immigration is zero point zero, zero, zero? Amazing.
Economics are generally skeptical models that yield corner solutions ---
https://www.econlib.org/do-you-talk-about-it-in-open-borders-yes/
Jensen Comment
To the list of questions I would add "Do your talk about the Tragedy of the
Commons?"
The problem with open borders is somewhat related to the economic problem of
"The Sharing of the Commons" where giving everybody the right to use a free
resource leads to everybody losing that resource. At what point will allowing
billions of people share in the free medical care, free college, and other
scarce resources ruin it for everybody ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons
History of United States Immigration Laws ---
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxwGCkZzrvQkcFbRplBPwBFwmFDs
Open immigration can’t exist with a strong
social safety net; if you’re going to assure healthcare and a decent income to
everyone, you can’t make that offer global ---
Paul Krugman
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/724654-open-immigration-can-t-exist-with-a-strong-social-safety-net
History will prove former President Donald
Trump was correct about Mexico one day funding an impenetrable wall --- to keep
out over 2 billion starving green immigrants seeking to enter Mexico from the
north.
Bob Jensen
Some Fatherly Words of Wisdom from Jack Bogle, Founder
of Vanguard Investments, to My Sons ---
https://jborden.com/2019/06/16/some-fatherly-words-of-wisdom-from-jack-bogle-founder-of-vanguard-investments-to-my-sons/
“In 1665, Cambridge University closed because of
the plague. Issac Newton decided to work from home. He discovered calculus & the
laws of motion. Just saying.”
— Paddy Cosgrave
Cosgrave, chief
executive of Web Summit, in a
tweet last week reflecting on the ramifications of coronavirus.
As quoted
again in a March 11, 2020 Chronicle of Higher Education newsletter.
Jensen
Comment
For Cambridge students in 1665 there were no photocopy machines for
lecture notes, telephone, Web sites, video/radio technologies, and other online
technologies used today for online teaching.
Milton Friedman: The Lesson of the
Spoons ---
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/08/spoons-are-in-aisle-9.html
Chopsticks would be even better
There are over 100+ trillion reasons for the demise of Elizabeth
Warren and Bernie Sanders that the liberal media does not want to mention
Brian Riedl computed the added $100 trillion cost
of Bernie's initiatives (not counting his free pre-schooling for every child,
the collapse of the capital markets, the loss of most USA pensions, and tides
through open borders ) ---
https://www.city-journal.org/bernie-sanders-expensive-spending-proposals
The Young
Left’s Anti-Capitalist Manifesto: Its goal is to remake our economic system —
and the Democratic Party ---
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-young-lefts-anti-capitalist-manifesto/
I have a complaint about America today, and it
is simple: we don’t love business enough ---
Tyler Cowen
https://www.econlib.org/library/Columns/y2019/Klingbigbusiness.html
The Amazon Rain Forest Is Nearly Gone ---
https://time.com/amazon-rainforest-disappearing/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief&utm_content=20190914&xid=newsletter-brief
Amazon rainforest fires: Everything we know and how you can help
---
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/amazon-rainforest-fire-whats-happening-now-and-how-you-can-help-update-indigenous-tribes/
There Are More Fires Burning in Africa Than Anywhere on Earth ----
https://time.com/5665794/africa-forest-fires-amazon/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief&utm_content=20190901&xid=newsletter-brief
If forests go up in smoke, so can carbon offsets ---
https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/13/20859156/forests-fires-carbon-offsets-amazon-california
"In
Praise of Cheap Labor," by Paul Krugman,
Slate, March 21, 1997 ---
https://slate.com/business/1997/03/in-praise-of-cheap-labor.html
Corruption in general has a deleterious effect
on the readiness of economic agents to invest. In the long run, it leads to a
paralysis of economic life. But very often it is not that economic agents
themselves have had the bad experience of being cheated and ruined, they just
know that in this country, or in this part of the economy, or this building
scene, there is a high likelihood that you will get cheated and that free riders
can get away with it. Here again, reputation is absolutely essential, which is
why transparency is so important. Trust can only be engendered by transparency.
It's no coincidence that the name of the most influential non-governmental
organization dealing with corruption is Transparency International.
A Conversation with Karl Sigmund: When Rule of Law is
Not Working
https://www.edge.org/conversation/karl_sigmund-when-the-rule-of-law-is-not-working
Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em, And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so on ad infinitum ---
Augustus De Morgan
Prior to 1980 what was unique about the year of his birth in 1871?
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/De_Morgan.html
Also see
The
enemy is fear
We think it's hate
But, it's fear
Gandhi
12 inspiring quotes from Martin Luther King
Jr.---
https://www.businessinsider.com/inspiring-martin-luther-king-jr-quotes-2017-1
21 outstanding Warren Buffet quotations ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-21-best-quotes-2019-2
Also see
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/the-25-best-warren-buffett-quotes-in-one-infographic/
The Atlantic: The Swiftly Closing
Borders of Europe ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/12/europe-france-italy-immigration-border/578179/
History of United States Immigration Laws ---
https://rapidvisa.com/history-of-united-states-immigration-laws/
Walter E. Williams: Socialism's Past
https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2020/03/18/socialisms-past-n2565057?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=03/18/2020&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167
Actually Bernie proposes skipping socialism and moving directly to communism.
Bernie Sanders proposes immediate employee/union takeover of all the large
corporations of the USA ---
https://berniesanders.com/issues/workplace-democracy/
Despite never having built a working product, Theranos
accumulated hundreds of patents. These patents are now the only thing of value
left but the patents aren’t valuable because of breakthrough science, the
patents are valuable because they can be used to force people who do
breakthrough science to cough up part of their return ---
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2020/03/bullshit-patents.html
NY Governor Cuomo Praises Trump: 'His Team Has Been on
It' 'President Is Doing the Right Thing' ---
https://www.blabber.buzz/conservative-news/810670-ny-governor-cuomo-praises-trump-his-team-has-been-on-it-president-is-doing-the-right-thing-special?utm_source=c-alrt&utm_medium=c-alrt-email&utm_term=c-alrt-GI&utm_content=5iEzoSRA3OwmMZouDYnIqL3RgHsaffHcB6hB5DcjF-f0.A
The Liberal Media Loudly and Biased Polls Declare With
Certainty That It's All Over for the Trump Presidency ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/peter-wehner-trump-presidency-over/607969/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=politics-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20200318&silverid-ref=NTk4MzY1OTg0MzY5S0
Jensen Comment
What they're ignoring is the tens of millions of voters supporting Trump's
policies while perhaps disliking the man. Some of his most popular policies
include ending the liberal disaster of not enforcing non-violent crimes like
theft, frauds, prostitution, and shop lifting, curbing illegal immigration
(coupled with increased legal immigration), increased deportations of illegal
alien criminals, stopping liberal proposals for $100 trillion dollar budgets for
social programs, further lowering of taxes to stimulate job growth, stock
markets, and pension funds, and added support for the USA military. Many voters
will overlook whatever else they don't like in Donald Trump in order to support
his conservative policies.
According to ABC News, a new Ipsos poll
released Friday shows that more Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the
coronavirus outbreak than not despite a high number of people saying their lives
have been upended ---
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3826534/posts
CORONAVIRUS DID NOT ORIGINATE IN A LAB—IT IS THE
PRODUCT OF NATURAL EVOLUTION, SCIENTISTS SAY ---
https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-did-not-originate-labit-product-natural-evolution-scientists-say-1492912
Voter Turnout in Florida and Arizona Were Bigger This
Year Than 2016 ---
https://www.newsweek.com/heres-why-voter-turnout-florida-arizona-were-bigger-this-year-2016-despite-coronavirus-pandemic-1492886
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic,
college kids are partying on boats packed with booze and people ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/students-party-during-spring-break-despite-the-coronavirus-pandemic-2020-3
This is a great example to focus on in ethics courses --- is this an example of bad ethics?
The tax-filing deadline is still April 15, but
the IRS will waive penalties and interest on tax payments for 90 days ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/irs-to-extend-tax-filing-deadline-why-file-taxes-now-2020-3
This may or may not be the case for your state's income tax returns.
Italian Virologist: Fear of Being Falsely
Called Racist Led to Italy’s Wuhan Coronavirus Crisis ---
https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/03/italian-virologist-fear-of-being-falsely-called-racist-led-to-italys-wuhan-coronavirus-crisis/#more-312473
How to mislead with statistics?
Why do nations have such differing fatality rates among people with the
Coronavirus (note the graph)? ---
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2020/03/why-such-a-large-difference-in-fatality-rates.html#comments
The comments beneath the article are a mishmash of stupid reasons and plausible
reasons. In nearly all nations the fatality rates are probably understated due
to non-reporting of many people who had the virus, lived on, and never reported
their affliction officially. Differences in this non-reporting rate probably
account for a lot of the differences in fatality rates being reported by
nations. Nations with larger co-pays may have the least-accurate denominators in
fatality rate calculations. Some people avoid having to wait for hours in
emergency rooms (and incurring thousands of dollars in ER billings) by simply
avoiding going to the ER whenever possible. The disease may be horribly
under-reported for developing nations having less adequate medical facilities.
China Stopped Counting ‘Mild’ Coronavirus
Cases in February 2020 ---
https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2020/03/20/china-stopped-counting-mild-coronavirus-cases-in-february/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social
Bipartisan Effort Underway To Hold Chinese
Government Financially Accountable For Coronavirus Outbreak
https://www.blabber.buzz/conservative-news/819345-bipartisan-effort-underway-to-hold-chinese-government-financially-accountable-for-coronavirus-outbreak-special?utm_source=c-pm&utm_medium=c-pm-email&utm_term=c-pm-GI&utm_content=7mXcQj7pUe2oOxjquwA9SFHy5xCR8uoq05UOsfySZ9gk.A
Is this really smart when China has invested so much in the USA's National Debt,
and we're hoping that China will roll over that investment and even invest in
more of that debt?
https://www.thebalance.com/who-owns-the-u-s-national-debt-3306124
Furthermore this could start a tide of international lawsuits regarding origins of other pandemics like hoof & mouth disease, swine flu, etc. The only ones benefiting in the end would be the lawyers.
CNN’s Jake Tapper lets AOC lie repeatedly
about Trump, admits later he knew she was lying ---
https://www.blabber.buzz/conservative-news/818055-cnns-jake-tapper-lets-aoc-lie-repeatedly-about-trump-admits-later-he-knew-she-was-lying-special?utm_source=c-alrt&utm_medium=c-alrt-email&utm_term=c-alrt-GI&utm_content=3DQRUwfHbKmcJ1V_NFDY6CkYb3g..A
Biden Falsely Accused Trump of Cutting CDC
Funding. Obama Administration Proposed Cuts for Years ---
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/bronsonstocking/2020/03/28/biden-falsely-accused-trump-of-cutting-cdc-funding-obama-administration-proposed-n2565920?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=03/29/2020&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167
California once had mobile hospitals and a
ventilator stockpile. But it dismantled them ---
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/california-once-had-mobile-hospitals-and-a-ventilator-stockpile-but-it-dismantled-them/ar-BB11O8Gs
MIT: We need economic relief now.
Climate policy can come later ---
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/615401/coronavirus-economic-stimulus-climate-policy-clean-energy-covid19/
A MIT team hopes to publish open-source
designs for a low-cost ventilator ---
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/615374/an-mit-team-hopes-to-publish-open-source-designs-for-a-low-cost-ventilator/
Jensen Comment
Although huge corporations like Ford have stepped up to manufacture ventilators,
many companies hesitate to do so because lawyers are lurking to sue if one
breaks down.
After Cuomo Attacks, Trump Exposes How NY’s Ventilator
Shortage Is Traced Straight to Cuomo Himself ---
https://www.blabber.buzz/conservative-news/821420-after-cuomo-attacks-trump-exposes-how-nys-ventilator-shortage-is-traced-straight-to-cuomo-himself-special?utm_source=c-am&utm_medium=c-am-email&utm_term=c-am-GI&utm_content=2KvkcSGywrCfXsRfotUH4XJ8Trg..A
Jensen Comment
It would be a more wonderful world if politicians would stop playing the blame
game and get on with solving our problems.
Minimum wage hikes are a much worse idea now ---
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2020/03/minimum-wage-hikes-are-a-much-worse-idea-now.html
Jensen Comment
Such hikes might prevent troubled firms from reopening.
It will take quite a long time for tourism to recover, and with delayed tourism many businesses like restaurants and B&Bs are getting a double whammy with increased minimum wages to pay.
Tucker Carlson: Biden ‘Will Not Be The
Democratic Nominee.’ Here’s Who He Predicts Will Assume The Mantle ---
https://www.blabber.buzz/conservative-news/824197-tucker-carlson-insists-biden-will-not-be-the-democratic-nominee-heres-who-he-predicts-will-assume-the-mantle-special?utm_source=c-alrt&utm_medium=c-alrt-email&utm_term=c-alrt-GI&utm_content=9GHGkdpWhYe83EFyZJjkFO8_21LdfGwaVfyZOKuqu1nQ.A
Jensen Comment
Unless he really withdraws on his own, I think Biden will have enough delegates
to stave off a brokered convention.
Armed Citizen Shoots, Kills Active Shooter At
Tulsa Shopping Center ---
https://bearingarms.com/came/2020/03/28/armed-citizen-active-shooter-tulsa-shopping-center/?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=03/29/2020&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167
The Netherlands has recalled 600,000
coronavirus face masks it imported from China after discovering they were faulty
---
https://www.businessinsider.com/coroanvirus-holland-recalls-over-half-a-million-masks-imported-from-china-2020-3
This could be a problem in any nation's rush to produce safety products during a
pandemic.
Buyer beware: Counterfeit markets can flourish during a
public health crisis ---
https://theconversation.com/buyer-beware-counterfeit-markets-can-flourish-during-a-public-health-crisis-134492
After Cuomo Attacks, Trump Exposes How NY’s Ventilator
Shortage Is Traced Straight to Cuomo Himself ---
https://www.blabber.buzz/conservative-news/821420-after-cuomo-attacks-trump-exposes-how-nys-ventilator-shortage-is-traced-straight-to-cuomo-himself-special?utm_source=c-am&utm_medium=c-am-email&utm_term=c-am-GI&utm_content=2KvkcSGywrCfXsRfotUH4XJ8Trg..A
Jensen Comment
It would be a more wonderful world if politicians would stop playing the blame
game and get on with solving our problems.
New York’s Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo has
now admitted that his state has a “stockpile of unused ventilators” – all after
he previously complained that the American government was not providing enough
---
https://byberry.com/dem-gov-unused-ventilators-ny/
Canadian Crude Costs More to Ship than Buy ---
https://www.rigzone.com/news/wire/canadian_crude_costs_more_to_ship_than_buy-27-mar-2020-161541-article/
After paying over $34,000 for a moving van from Texas to New Hampshire, I had a similar feeling.
Oregon Closes Online Schools!!!
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2020/03/oregon-closes-online-schools.html
Hungry Rats Swarm Shuttered New Orleans
---
https://www.ozy.com/presidential-daily-brief/pdb-295019/ravenous-omen-295047/
Maybe our next pandemic will be bubonic plague
The Number of Corona Virus Cases and Hospitalization Numbers for Each USA State
---
https://covidtracking.com/
Jensen Comment
The numbers appear to be relatively surprising in some states, especially the
numbers hospitalized. For example, at the time I read this on March 27 Georgia
had 2,000 cases with 566 hospitalized. Massachusetts had 3,240 cases with only
219 hospitalized. The media seems to imply that far more cases are hospitalized
and dead relative to this data. Of course in this pandemic the numbers could
explode.
The absences of
white patches (in the graphic linked below) for southern Florida and south Texas
are mystifying. Recall that San Antonio and Miami are two of the largest cities
in the USA. They are also magnet cities for both tourists and undocumented
immigrants ---
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-coronavirus-isnt-just-a-blue-state-problem/
Note the heterogeneity reflected in the March 26 columns of the table.
Any red vs. blue state implications for political causes of cases is nonsense,
although there might be some underlying other causes among red vs. blue
dichotomies.
Go figure when it comes to sparsely populated eastern Alaska.
The above graphic overlooks the heterogeneity among hospitalizations of cases
that is better reflected at
https://covidtracking.com/
Coronavirus:
Where does all the heterogeneity come from?
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2020/03/where-does-all-the-heterogeneity-come-from.html
Message from Jagdish Gangolly
It is interesting that the virus at least till now has not been successful in terrorizing the population in Africa and India, both malarial places. One hypothesis that is being circulated is that those people have herd immunity; in fact people in all malarial places seem to have the herd immunity. That also is being suggested as the reason Hydroxychloroquinine/azithromycin combination seems to be working in treating covid-19.
To the Dismay of the Liberal Media and Some Democrats, Hydroxychloroquine is
Looking Better and Better
https://townhall.com/columnists/kevinmccullough/2020/03/29/hydroxychloroquine-help-is-on-the-way-n2565926?utm_source=thdailypm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_pm&newsletterad=&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167
Like all medications it has its drawbacks and dangers, but governors of Nevada and Michigan should stop arresting patients and doctors who use it
Israeli
Firm Donates to U.S. Ten Million Pills Touted by Trump for Coronavirus Treatment
---
https://www.blabber.buzz/conservative-news/823053-israeli-firm-donates-to-us-ten-million-pills-touted-by-trump-for-coronavirus-treatment-special?utm_source=c-alrt&utm_medium=c-alrt-email&utm_term=c-alrt-GI&utm_content=837UbNi_k5iDkCXwiuEQU4rmVAxgzJzjnTja7lRCSGMo.A
You will be arrested for using these pills in Nevada --- even if you're choking
to death with no other alternative
Hydroxychloroquine --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxychloroquine
On 13 February 2020, hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine were recommended by a South Korean task force for the experimental treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).[32] In vitro studies in cell cultures demonstrated that hydroxychloroquine was more potent than chloroquine against SARS-CoV-2.[33][34]
On 17 March 2020, the AIFA Scientific Technical Commission of the Italian Medicines Agency expressed a favorable opinion on including the off-label use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19.[35]
A randomized controlled trial by Chinese researchers showed no positive effect with hydroxychloroquine at a dosage of 400 mg per day.[36] A study from Marseille, France, showed a reduction in viral load at a dosage of 600 mg a day, however the study was criticized for its methodology.[37] The people were not randomized and three from the treatment group that were transferred to an intensive care unit and one who died were excluded from the analysis.[38]
Anthony Faudci (director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Fauci
For emergency limited use treatment the FDA approved Hydroxychloroquine
and chloroquine, two malaria drugs controversially promoted by Trump ---
https://qz.com/africa/1822701/coronavirus-trump-says-malaria-drug-chloroquine-can-work/
Jensen Comment
Even when it's available over the counter patients should get qualified
physician approval
I don't know yet if Nevada and Michigan governors will continue to ban all use
of malaria drugs for the Chronoavirus. I suspect pressure will mount for them to
drop their bans.
Trump's promotion was based heavily on positive anecdotal evidence from Europe,
particularly France.
Nevada's governor plays doctor in defiance of recommendation of Dr. Fauci
Nevada’s Democrat Governor Issues Emergency Order Barring Use of Anti-Malaria
Drugs For Coronavirus Patients ---
https://www.blabber.buzz/conservative-news/819792-nevadas-democrat-governor-issues-emergency-order-barring-use-of-anti-malaria-drugs-for-coronavirus-patients-special?utm_source=c-alrt&utm_medium=c-alrt-email&utm_term=c-alrt-GI&utm_content=4_IBzIGwv_cPJlMRU4kb7RWtLkQ..A
Jensen Comment
On CBS News the other night Dr. Fauci stressed that even though tests of
Hydrochloroquine are still largely anecdotal that recommendation of use by a
qualified physician for the coronavirus should be a professional and personal
matter between doctor and patient. Among other things that doctor should take
the patient's allergies into account. Instead Nevada's governor is taking on the
role of Big Brother in taking away physician discretion.
Some patients may actually leave Nevada because of this governor's dictate. Of course that may well be what the Governor is really hoping for.
The Nevada governor is inviting civil lawsuits if its later shown that Hydroxychloroquine could've saved their lives. I for one hope the courts stick it to him.
Why The U.S. Can’t Process Coronavirus Tests As Fast As South Korea (it's about
supply and lab shortages and quality control issues in the USA)---
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-coronavirus-tests-actually-work/
Compare that to South Korea, where people can get their results in about a day. There, the government had been stockpiling the necessary chemicals for years after COVID-19’s cousin MERS briefly hit that country in 2015. That helped the country move quickly to approve and decentralize testing as soon as COVID-19 arrived3.
FDA Should
Get Out of the Way of At-Home COVID-19 Testing ---
https://reason.com/2020/03/23/fda-should-get-out-of-the-way-of-at-home-covid-19-testing/
Finance
Question
Why are blue chip companies seeking to borrow huge amounts of money in long-term
contracts?
Answer
The knee jerk answer is that those companies want to take advantage of very low
interest rates by issuing long-term bonds.
I cannot deny that lower interest is a huge motivating factor. But behind the lines these companies are anticipating higher inflation resulting in trillions of stimulus spending by the government (it will soon rise to much more than $2 trillion) that will in part be paid for by highly inflationary printing of dollars not raised from taxes or borrowing. Most people assume that the USA will borrow much of its stimulus trillions by adding to the $23+ trillion it now owes in National Debt. But borrowing trillions is tricky for nations like the USA, France, Italy, and Japan that now have debt exceeding their GNP productivities. Nations like Australia and Germany will have an easier time borrowing stimulus money.
The old rule of finance is borrow dear dollars and pay back cheap dollars. A dollar today will buy a whole lot more goods and services than a dollar after 2030 and beyond.
The sad news is that pension funds desperate for safe investments will buy up those long-term corporate bonds in 2020. The people taking a hit will be workers today putting dear dollars into their pension funds today will be drawing out cheap dollars in the years following their retirement.
Investing in inflation-indexed bonds is not yet popular in the USA. In hyperinflation nations like Israel and Argentina over the years investors would not buy bonds unless they were indexed for inflation. We will soon need inflation-indexed bonds in the USA to protect pensions.
From the CFO Journal's Morning Ledger on March 26, 2020
Good morning. Finance executives at blue-chip companies looking to tap fresh funds amid the continued spread of the coronavirus are finding it easier to market new debt to investors, with Nike, McDonald’s and Pfizer all issuing bonds at significantly lower yields than their initial offers at the start of the day—contrary to last week, when companies were forced to offer high premiums for their debt.
This week’s bond sales, including those by Comcast and Mastercard on Tuesday, come after an announcement by the Federal Reserve on Monday that it would buy unlimited amounts of government debt and create new facilities to buy new and existing corporate bonds with investment-grade ratings.
It is mostly companies with high credit ratings that are expected to benefit from the Fed intervention. Ratings companies in recent days have downgraded corporate and government bonds as they reassess the ability of borrowers to repay their obligations, and took away pristine triple-A marks or moved other supposedly safe investment-grade bonds into junk territory.
S&P Global Inc. said it has now made more than 100 downgrades linked to the coronavirus, including on airlines like JetBlue Airways Corp., Southwest Airlines Co. and Spirit Airlines Inc. Corporates with big cash piles could therefore potentially come out stronger, said Ron Graziano, an accounting and tax analyst at Credit Suisse. “The ones going into it with the bigger cushion are better positioned to survive,” he said.
Jensen Comment
I think the first sentence should be changed to:
"The restaurant used to pay you $13 an hour, now they pay you "$13 an hour plus
a cut from of Covid-19 stimulus cash received by a business." That new wage may
vary in amount and could become a lower real wage due to inflation."
Real Wages Are Flexible Now
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2020/03/real-wages-are-flexible-now.html
Jensen Comment
Inflation is not necessarily immediate when the government pumps printed money
into an economy during a pandemic shutdown. Much depends upon on how much
helicopter money is actually printed since taxes and borrowing could reduce the
need for as much helicopter money. We don't really know how much more stimulus
cash will be rained down during the USA's pandemic ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopter_money
The US is
preparing $2 trillion to stimulate its economy. Will it be enough? ---
https://qz.com/1824986/us-plans-2-trillion-stimulus-to-battle-coronavirus-led-recession/
Jensen Comment
To me the most interesting part of this article is old news. Look at the
National Debt-to-GDP numbers and note the nations that already have more
National Debt than GDP. In the nations shown this includes the
USA, France, Italy, and Japan.
Spain almost has National Debt almost equal to GDP. Those nations it will
seem will have the hardest time paying for some of their economic stimulus
packages with more National Debt. Nations like
Australia and Germany have more room to borrow stimulus money. Most
nations will have a difficult time raising anywhere close to the stimulus
amounts with taxes, especially France that now experiences riots with the
slightest tax increases.
There's no doubt that stimulus is needed. Guess how the stimulus packages will be funded?
Are We About to See a Deluge of Helicopter Money raining down on the USA and
parts of the EU and Asia ---
https://www.ozy.com/news-and-politics/are-we-about-to-see-a-deluge-of-helicopter-money/290226/?utm_term=OZY&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DailyDose%20%282020-03-21%2015:46:05%29&utm_content=Final
New York
Legislators Introduce Bill To Cancel Rent for 90 Days for Workers Affected By
Coronavirus Closures ---
https://reason.com/2020/03/25/new-york-legislators-introduce-bill-to-cancel-rent-for-90-days-for-workers-affected-by-coronavirus-closures/
Jensen Comment
Why not have a 90/365 reduction in the property tax as well?
The IRS Proves The Left’s Favorite Economists Wrong:The Rich Really Do Not
Pay Lower Taxes Than You ---
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2020/03/the-irs-proves-the-lefts-favorite-economists-wrongthe-rich-really-do-not-pay-lower-taxes-than-you.html
In their rush to embrace a convenient political
narrative last fall, much of the press and political classes never considered
the possibility that the data would undermine their story.
It did.
Hydroxychloroquine --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxychloroquine
On 13 February 2020, hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine were recommended by a South Korean task force for the experimental treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).[32] In vitro studies in cell cultures demonstrated that hydroxychloroquine was more potent than chloroquine against SARS-CoV-2.[33][34]
On 17 March 2020, the AIFA Scientific Technical Commission of the Italian Medicines Agency expressed a favorable opinion on including the off-label use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19.[35]
A randomized controlled trial by Chinese researchers showed no positive effect with hydroxychloroquine at a dosage of 400 mg per day.[36] A study from Marseille, France, showed a reduction in viral load at a dosage of 600 mg a day, however the study was criticized for its methodology.[37] The people were not randomized and three from the treatment group that were transferred to an intensive care unit and one who died were excluded from the analysis.[38]
Anthony Faudci (director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Fauci
Nevada's governor plays doctor in defiance of recommendation of Dr. Fauci
Nevada’s Democrat Governor Issues Emergency Order Barring Use of Anti-Malaria
Drugs For Coronavirus Patients ---
https://www.blabber.buzz/conservative-news/819792-nevadas-democrat-governor-issues-emergency-order-barring-use-of-anti-malaria-drugs-for-coronavirus-patients-special?utm_source=c-alrt&utm_medium=c-alrt-email&utm_term=c-alrt-GI&utm_content=4_IBzIGwv_cPJlMRU4kb7RWtLkQ..A
Jensen Comment
On CBS News the other night Dr. Fauci stressed that even though tests of
Hydrochloroquine are still largely anecdotal that recommendation of use by a
qualified physician for the coronavirus should be a professional and personal
matter between doctor and patient. Among other things that doctor should take
the patient's allergies into account. Instead Nevada's governor is taking on the
role of Big Brother in taking away physician discretion.
Some patients may actually leave Nevada because of this governor's dictate. Of course that may well be what the Governor is really hoping for.
The Nevada governor is inviting civil lawsuits if its later shown that Hydroxychloroquine could've saved their lives.
Like the USA is doing with the Federal Reserve's "Quantitative Easing,"
Central banks in Europe are under increasing pressure to print money and give it
to citizens amid the coronavirus pandemic ---
Are We About to See a Deluge of Helicopter Money raining down on the USA and
parts of the EU and Asia ---
https://www.ozy.com/news-and-politics/are-we-about-to-see-a-deluge-of-helicopter-money/290226/?utm_term=OZY&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DailyDose%20%282020-03-21%2015:46:05%29&utm_content=Final
The above article is a "must read."
Printing "helicopter money" is tantamount to government spending that is not
funded by taxes or borrowing and can become highly inflationary
When done is serious amounts this PPT economics translates into much higher
prices in a nation
What worries me more than coronavirus in this worldwide pandemic?
Warning: Money is not created by merely printing more of it ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_creation
Currency, rather than money, is created with printing presses.
Money is created when a bank gives you a loan (credit) to buy something.
The government (think our Federal Reserve) controls how much money can be
created in this manner.
Currency is usually printed only to make spending of money more convenient than
writing checks --- giving us so-called "liquidity preference."
As nations of the world, under the excuse of "economic stimulus," decide to
print currencies to rain down from the sky, without taxing or borrowing, during
this pandemic it seems like a good time to consider the academics of
"quantitative easing" of our economic troubles.
The classic example of hyperinflation caused by merely printing currency is the
Weimar Republic in Germany after WW 1 ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation_in_the_Weimar_Republic
More recently we see what happened to the hyperinflated economies of Zimbabwe
and Venezuela ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation
Even more recently the USA commenced pandemic economic stimulus last week with
$700 billion of so-called "quantitative easing" that rains dollars without
taxing or borrowing ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantitative_easing
How close is $700 billion to the $1 trillion Trump is
now promising to rain down on the USA economy?
Modern Monetary Theory (what I call garbage economics) --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Monetary_Theory
Criticisms
A 2019 survey of leading economists by the University of Chicago Booth's Initiative on Global Markets showed a unanimous rejection of assertions that the survey attributes to modern monetary theory: "Countries that borrow in their own currency should not worry about government deficits because they can always create money to finance their debt" and "Countries that borrow in their own currency can finance as much real government spending as they want by creating money".[61][62] Directly responding to the survey, MMT economist William K. Black said "MMT scholars do not make or support either claim."[63] Multiple MMT academics regard the attribution of these claims as a smear.[64]The post-Keynesian economist Thomas Palley argues that MMT is largely a restatement of elementary Keynesian economics, but prone to "over-simplistic analysis" and understating the risks of its policy implications.[65] Palley denies the MMT claim that standard Keynesian analysis does not fully capture the accounting identities and financial restraints on a government that can issue its own money. He argues that these insights are well captured by standard Keynesian stock-flow consistent IS-LM models, and have been well understood by Keynesian economists for decades. He also criticizes MMT for "assum[ing] away the problem of fiscal–monetary conflict"[66] — that is, that the governmental body that creates the spending budget (e.g. Congress) may refuse to cooperate with the governmental body that controls the money supply (e.g. the Federal Reserve). In Palley's view the policies proposed by MMT proponents would cause serious financial instability in an open economy with flexible exchange rates, while using fixed exchange rates would restore hard financial constraints on the government and "undermines MMT’s main claim about sovereign money freeing governments from standard market disciplines and financial constraints". He also argues that MMT lacks a plausible theory of inflation, particularly in the context of full employment in the employer of last resort policy first proposed by Hyman Minsky and advocated by Bill Mitchell and other MMT theorists; of a lack of appreciation of the financial instability that could be caused by permanently zero interest rates; and of overstating the importance of government created money. Palley concludes that MMT provides no new insights about monetary theory, while making unsubstantiated claims about macroeconomic policy, and that MMT has only received attention recently due to it being a "policy polemic for depressed times."[66]
Marc Lavoie argues that whilst the neochartalist argument is "essentially correct", many of its counter-intuitive claims depend on a "confusing" and "fictitious" consolidation of government and central banking operations[13] — again what Palley calls "the problem of fiscal–monetary conflict."[66]
New Keynesian economist and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman argues that MMT goes too far in its support for government budget deficits and ignores the inflationary implications of maintaining budget deficits when the economy is growing.[67] Krugman described MMT devotees as engaging in "calvinball" — a game from the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes in which the players change the rules at whim.[22] Austrian School economist Robert P. Murphy states that MMT is "dead wrong" and that "the MMT worldview doesn't live up to its promises."[68] He observes that MMT's claim that cutting government deficits erodes private saving is true "only for the portion of private saving that is not invested" and argues that the national accounting identities used to explain this aspect of MMT could equally be used to support arguments that government deficits "crowd out" private sector investment.[68]
The chartalist view of money itself, and the MMT emphasis on the importance of taxes in driving money, is also a source of criticism.[13] Economist Eladio Febrero argues that modern money draws its value from its ability to cancel (private) bank debt, particularly as legal tender, rather than to pay government taxes.
Bernie Sanders is being advised by a fan of an economic theory called MMT
considered for funding a goodly part of his $100+ trillion proposed social
programs---
https://www.businessinsider.com/modern-monetary-theory-mmt-explained-aoc-2019-3
Jensen Comment
To me MMT not well understood unless you focus on the disaster MMT can bring to a
nation, especially when you cause more pain by trying to relieve pain by simply
printing money!
I don't think President Trump has a clue about MMT dangers in his desperation to be re-elected.
During this pandemic I now wish I'd not ignored hyperinflation when planning my retirement with fixed income annuities and tax-free mutual funds. I probably should have kept more inflation hedges like the black dirt farm I inherited in northern Iowa that I sold when I retired in 2006.
My wheeling and dealing grandfather saved one of his nine farms during the Great Depression and literally fed his family and a goodly portion of the town of Swea City, Iowa on potatoes and navy beans. Afterwards my mother always said the best investment in hard times is black dirt. That may also be true in 2020 due to pending hyperinflation caused by stupid politicians during a pandemic.
Printing MMT dollars to ease economic woes is like painting over very rotten wood with white wash or spraying Rust-Oleum over a totally rusted out car body.
Now I'm wishing I hadn't sold my grandfather's farm when I retired. Whatever the rate of inflation, the value of Iowa black dirt will correlate almost perfectly with the hyperinflation rate.
Nations like Israel and Argentina that live with hyperinflation provide
inflation-indexed bond investments.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation-indexed_bond
The USA will soon be offering such inflation hedges along with the checks most
adults will be receiving in the mail from the U.S. Treasury. You should invest
the dollars raining down wisely with an understanding of the pending misery of a
hyperinflation pandemic --- unless you invested in inflation hedges.
By the way an investment in education can be an inflation hedge --- as long as you choose your specialty wisely.
Muni bonds bounce back, poised for best week since 1982 ---
https://www.truthinaccounting.org/news/detail/muni-bonds-bounce-back-poised-for-best-week-since-1982
After emerging from the pandemic, should we look to Europe for social and
economic guidance?
Time Magazine: The coronavirus outbreak is the latest in a
long line of crises that have thrust the E.U. into existential despair. The
euro-zone crisis of 2008 first gave the lie to the dream of a pan-European
solidarity, with wealthier nations loath to take any economic hit to come to the
aid of struggling ones. The refugee crisis of 2015 exacerbated this. As 1
million people arrived at E.U. borders seeking sanctuary, governments turned on
one another; there was little support for nations like Italy and Greece on the
front line of the crisis ---
https://time.com/5805783/coronavirus-european-union/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief&utm_content=20200320&xid=newsletter-brief
Jensen Comment
Now European "states" like Germany have closed their borders to one another, and
the U.K. withdrew from the EU. The EU has never achieved the solidarity of the
50 states of the USA giving so much power to Washingon DC. These days maybe I
should say 49 states, since one state seems to be taxing and regulating like no
other. A relatively small legislature (80) can do a lot of damage. In comparison New
Hampshire has 424 legislators who have difficulty passing most any damaging
legislation. Maybe we should hope for a Califexit.
Should we watch for Europe to outpace the USA in economic recovery from
the pandemic?
Bob Jensen is not predicting that, but much depends upon the 2020 USA elections
(think open borders), deficit spending, and quantitative easing (printing money
to pay government's bills) ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Monetary_Theory
You can't compare a nation of 350+ million people and soft borders with any nation of less than 40 million people, but you can compare the USA with the larger EU collection of "nation states." Slate is ever so proud of the EU while calling the USA a complete sham.
How to Mislead With Rankings
What Makes the People of Finland So Happy?
https://jborden.com/2020/03/21/what-makes-the-people-of-finland-so-happy/
Jensen Comment
Hi Jim,
There are some negatives from the standpoint of progressives. First, Finland is a highly capitalist economy opposed to socialism. Second, Finland hates diversity and quickly closed its borders to refugee immigration while such immigration was causing troubles in neighboring Sweden. Immigrants that sneaked into Finland were re-routed to the Swedish border. Finland across the years has never welcomed immigration ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_Finland
One of the things that makes Finland so happy is that it's 98.4% white and reluctant to allow immigration to make it more diverse
The majority race in Finland overall is white at 98.4% of residents.
https://bestneighborhood.com/race-in-finland-mn/Third, Finland’s single-payer medical system has been deemed non-sustainable and recently led to the overthrow of the government. Four, even before the pandemic Finland had a relatively high rate of unemployment.
Five, like most wintry nations Finland has a problem with alcoholism. I was once lecturing in Finland on May Day that is a celebration day, especially among college students. The entire downtown area was closed to traffic, and when I got up the next morning the streets were lined with fallen students that were still passed out. The good news is that nobody drinks and drives in Finland. Doing so leads to an automatic year in jail, although jail time in Finland is more or less a discretionary come-and-go type of thing for non-violent offenders.
Six, sex with partners is on the decline in Finland —
https://www.helsinkitimes.fi/finland/finland-news/domestic/14163-nationwide-sex-survey-findsincrease-in-masturbation-decrease-in-sex.htmlSeven, unlike Denmark Finland is not a particularly welcoming nation when it comes to tourists (strangers) on the streets. Finns tend to avoid eye contact and making greetings even with one another unless they know each other. My university hosts, however, were very warm and friendly. I was invited into their homes for nightly dinners.
Finland did not stay 98.4% white without building a wall against immigration.
You can't even become a non-citizen resident unless you have an acceptable job beforehand, and that alone is only one of many very difficult hurdles to residency and citizenship.
There's growing sentiment in Finland to grant jobs only to citizens ---
https://www.france24.com/en/20190413-finland-populists-eye-election-upset-anti-immigrant-feeling-rises
The bottom line is that Finland is a very happy white (98.4%) society.
And then there are the rankings of the Finland education system as the very best in the world. However, much of the credit goes to a factor outside the education system --- interaction of fathers with children
Finland is purportedly the only nation of the world where fathers spend more time with school-aged children than mothers ---
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/dec/04/finland-only-country-world-dad-more-time-kids-moms
Nearly half the children in the USA now have experienced single-parent homes ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Parenthood_Children_and_Academia
Lack of interaction of fathers with children is an enormous problem, even in two-parent homes, in the USA relative to Finland.
**How to Mislead With Statistics
What you
need to know about hydroxychloroquine, Trump’s new favorite treatment for
Covid-19 ---
https://www.vox.com/2020/3/20/21188433/coronavirus-hydroxychloroquine-chloroquine-covid-19-treatment
Jensen
Comment
I have numerous illustrations of misleading articles based upon anecdotal
evidence and exceedingly small samples ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/MisleadWithStatistics.htm
Scientists are rarely, if ever, satisfied with anecdotal evidence. However, they often find such evidence extremely important.
In the case of hydroxychloroquine and Covid-19 early evidence there are now more scientific studies taking place. Also the early positive evidence led to Bayer's donation of over one million units to hospitals around the world for more experimentation.
But always beware of false hopes from anecdotal evidence. I'm reminded of the well-known actor Steve McQueen's reaction when he was pronounced to be terminally ill with cancer. He quickly went down to Mexico for treatments of an entirely unproven regimen that supposedly might save his life. As is so often the case, his hope was a false hope.
Let's hope that the tentative hope for hydroxychloroquine is not a false hope. And let's hope there is continued effort to find even more effective alternatives
'Work is never going back to what it
once was:' Veteran tech CEO Bill McDermott says the coronavirus crisis is
turbocharging the rise of the digital workplace ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-mcdermott-coronavirus-digital-transformation-workplace-2020-3?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BIPrime_select&utm_campaign=BI
Prime 2020-03-24&utm_term=BI Prime Select
· The veteran tech leader Bill McDermott, the CEO of the cloud giant ServiceNow who once led SAP, said the coronavirus crisis would bring a dramatic shift to a digital workplace.
· "What we're seeing now is a massive realization that work is never going to go back to what it once was," he told Business Insider. "The reality is this is a new reality. This is one of those major moments where everything is going to change."
· He said businesses and governments that have embraced digital tools to give their employees more flexibility in the way they work would fare better than those that have not.
· "What's fascinating is productivity has actually gone up from home," he said. "It actually surprised me."
The veteran technology executive Bill McDermott thinks the coronavirus crisis is a shock event that will turbocharge the rise of the digital workplace.
"What we're seeing now is a massive realization that work is never going to go back to what it once was," he told Business Insider. "The reality is this is a new reality. This is one of those major moments where everything is going to change."
McDermott is the CEO of ServiceNow, which offers cloud tools to automate a business' workflow and operations. He took on the role only recently after stepping down as the longtime chief executive of the business-software giant SAP.
The pandemic has forced a dramatic shift in the way people work with millions of employees who are required to work remotely to slow the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. McDermott said the situation underscored the importance of digital systems and tools that give people more flexible options in their work.
Throughout the world, companies and public agencies are turning to different digital platforms, such as ServiceNow, Zoom, and Slack, to connect with employees.
"If you think about all the internal meetings that take place, people flying to different locations, not just the health and safety risks associated with that but also the cost risk associated with that, all those things that are going to now be viewed in a different lens," he said.
McDermott said the shift quickly became evident to him as his team responded to the crisis, including fielding inquiries from customers.
"Many of the meetings that I've done myself in the last couple of weeks have been done with video teleconferencing technologies," he said. "Sometimes the customer is enabled for that, and sometimes they aren't."
Businesses and government agencies that have embraced new technologies are clearly adapting faster and easier to the drastic change, McDermott said. Businesses "that are wedded to nondigital business models or that have not digitized their workflows" will likely face more challenges in this time of crisis, he said.
Continued in article
Jensen Comment
An added well-known trend that will change work is robotics combined with points made in the above article. So many job tasks that we never thought would be affected by robotics are now being performed by robots. Use of robots will greatly increase under increased price inflation for labor --- minimum wages will probably increase dramatically after the pandemic.
Another thing that will change profoundly will be higher education and even parts of K-12 education. The best of online learning discovered in our pandemic online learning will carry on after the pandemic is over. However, for some students and colleges things won't change as much. Where students are able to live on campus life may return pretty much to normal, because living on campus offers so much more than just academic learning. There are huge demands for athletic and social interactions served by residency.
The negative from the pandemic will be inflationary price rises that accompany
trillions in helicopter cash government bailout spending as a result of the
pandemic economic desperation ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopter_money
Families that are not protected with inflation hedges will find it harder and harder to pay for the luxury of sending their children to campuses offering dormitory living.
Education may change more dramatically for non-resident campuses such as most community colleges. Life may not return as much to normal after the pandemic experience with online learning.
Helicopter Money --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopter_money
Denmark’s Idea Could Help the World Avoid a Great
Depression ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/denmark-freezing-its-economy-should-us/608533/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20200323&silverid-ref=NTk4MzY1OTg0MzY5S0
Also see
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/18/denmark-coronavirus-uk-government-workers-employees
Jensen Comment
What the above articles avoid is mentioning how Denmark hopes to pay for this
relative enormous economic stimulus package. It helps that Denmark is not yet in
the Eurozone. That enables Denmark to simply print helicopter Danish krone
currency and take an inflation hit.
Nations in the Eurozone like Germany, Finland, and Greece are unable to decide on their own to print Helicopter euros to fund an economic stimulus. The decision to print helicopter Euros must come from the entire Eurozone.
If Denmark decides to pay for all of this stimulus without taxing or borrowing and the helicopter stimulus aid goes on for a very long time, the stimulus will be self-defeating in terms of hyperinflation. I'm certain that Denmark will halt the stimulus before becoming another Venezuela. But even moderate inflation will be very painful.
Any given state among the 50 states in the USA cannot print helicopter money, because those states are all in the USA Dollar Zone. It's still somewhat in question how the USA will fund its trillions of dollars that will be spent on economic stimulus before and after the coronavirus pandemic.
We hear endlessly about side effects of medications. What we don't hear much about from politicians are the side effects of helicopter money.
Updates on Medical Insurance
Bob Jensen's
Tidbits Archives ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbitsdirectory.htm
Bob
Jensen's Pictures and Stories
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm
Summary of Major Accounting Scandals --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accounting_scandals
Bob Jensen's threads on such scandals:
Bob Jensen's threads on audit firm litigation and negligence ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Fraud001.htm
Current and past editions of my
newsletter called Fraud Updates ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
Enron --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudEnron.htm
Rotten to the Core --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm
American History of Fraud --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudAmericanHistory.htm
Bob Jensen's fraud
conclusions ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudConclusion.htm
Bob Jensen's threads on
auditor professionalism and independence are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Fraud001c.htm
Bob Jensen's threads on
corporate governance are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Fraud001.htm#Governance
Shielding
Against Validity Challenges in Plato's Cave ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm
· With a Rejoinder from the 2010 Senior Editor of The Accounting Review (TAR), Steven J. Kachelmeier
· With Replies in Appendix 4 to Professor Kachemeier by Professors Jagdish Gangolly and Paul Williams
· With Added Conjectures in Appendix 1 as to Why the Profession of Accountancy Ignores TAR
· With Suggestions in Appendix 2 for Incorporating Accounting Research into Undergraduate Accounting Courses
Shielding
Against Validity Challenges in Plato's Cave ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm
By Bob Jensen
What went
wrong in accounting/accountics research? ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#WhatWentWrong
The Sad State of Accountancy Doctoral Programs That Do Not Appeal to Most
Accountants ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#DoctoralPrograms
AN ANALYSIS OF THE EVOLUTION OF RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS BY THE ACCOUNTING REVIEW:
1926-2005 ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/395wpTAR/Web/TAR395wp.htm#_msocom_1
Bob Jensen's threads on accounting theory
---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm
Systemic problems of accountancy (especially the vegetable nutrition paradox)
that probably will never be solved
---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudConclusion.htm#BadNews
Bob Jensen's economic crisis messaging http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/2008Bailout.htm
Bob Jensen's threads --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm
Bob Jensen's Home Page --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/