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 


Slate:  America is a Sham ---
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/03/coronavirus-tsa-liquid-purell-paid-leave-rules.html?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=vf&utm_mailing=VF_HivePS_032120&utm_medium=email&bxid=5c7498e024c17c67f89ebcae&cndid=31837029&hasha=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&hashb=0bee1d4fec27f0868c63f296f7257dfdbde4739b&hashc=4033ee13b64ffd126cee3428261c2cffa106f45d696c13fab049bff8873d8694&esrc=newsletteroverlay&utm_campaign=VF_HivePS_032120&utm_term=VYF_Hive

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.html 

Seven, 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/