Bill Gates Calls for Complete National Shutdown
2:15
Microsoft founder Bill Gates has called for a nationwide shutdown in an effort to combat the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus.
The Hill reports that Microsoft founder and billionaire philanthropist has called on a nationwide lockdown of the United States in an op-ed in the Washington Post. Gates states that he has spoken with experts through his charity who have stated that national policy would be more effective than multiple states issuing stay-at-home others while others remain open. Gates argues that the country needs a “consistent nationwide approach to shutting down.”
Gates writes in the op-ed: “Despite urging from public health experts, some states and counties haven’t shut down completely. In some states, beaches are still open; in others, restaurants still serve sit-down meals.”
“This is a recipe for disaster. Because people can travel freely across state lines, so can the virus. The country’s leaders need to be clear: Shutdown anywhere means shutdown everywhere,” he added. “Until the case numbers start to go down across America — which could take 10 weeks or more — no one can continue business as usual or relax the shutdown.”
Gates also stated that while a vaccine for the virus could be available within 18 months, “creating a vaccine is only half the battle.” Gates wrote: “We can start now by building the facilities where these vaccines will be made. Because many of the top candidates are made using unique equipment, we’ll have to build facilities for each of them, knowing that some won’t get used.”
He added: “Private companies can’t take that kind of risk, but the federal government can. It’s a great sign that the administration made deals this week with at least two companies to prepare for vaccine manufacturing. I hope more deals will follow.”
States including New York, New Jersey, and Washington have all issued stay-at-home orders while other states have issued less restrictive guidelines.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com
Top Harvard economist warns of 'mother of all
financial crises' amid coronavirus pandemic
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April 01, 2020 04:24 PM
A top economist
predicted that the coronavirus could cause the "mother of all financial
crises."
Kenneth S. Rogoff,
a widely cited, leading economist at
Harvard University, predicted that the novel coronavirus could trigger an
economic crash, both in the United States and globally. “This is already
shaping up as the deepest dive on record for the global economy for over 100
years,” Rogoff said.
“Everything depends on
how long it lasts, but if this goes on for a long time, it’s certainly going to
be the mother of all financial crises," Rogoff said, who co-authored a
comprehensive financial history book entitled This Time Is Different:
Eight Centuries of Financial Folly.
Last week, Congress
approved and Trump signed a $2.2 trillion
spending bill, the third relief package designed to alleviate economic
concerns of small businesses, large corporations, and individuals during the
COVID-19 pandemic. It allocates $500 billion in loans to large companies, $350
billion in forgivable loans, and provides $1,200 in direct cash payments to
many U.S. citizens, among other items.
Before the historic
relief package was passed last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said lawmakers must begin
drafting a fourth relief package to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, arguing that the bill
that was making its way through Congress was insufficient to address the needs
of state and local governments, workers, and other entities affected by the
spread of the virus.
On Tuesday, the
president advocated for a $2 trillion addition to congressional economic relief
bills designed to help workers and businesses during the pandemic, saying he
hopes to increase employment through federal programs.
"With interest
rates for the United States being at ZERO, this is the time to do our decades
long awaited Infrastructure Bill. It should be VERY BIG & BOLD, Two
Trillion Dollars, and be focused solely on jobs and rebuilding the once great
infrastructure of our Country! Phase 4," Trump tweeted.
Since COVID-19 was
first reported in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average has precipitously
fallen, plummeting from over 29,000 to approximately 20,900.
More than 911,000
people have tested
positive for the coronavirus globally. Of those, at least 45,000
have died from it, and more than 191,600 have recovered. The U.S. has seen at
least 206,000 confirmed cases, with nearly 8,400 reported recoveries.
Jobs melting away fast as coronavirus wreaks
havoc on economy
“Job losses now
underway far exceed anything the country has seen before.”
Jobs melting away fast as coronavirus wreaks
havoc on economy
Layoffs have
skyrocketed, nearly half of all U.S.
companies expect to announce furloughs, and 37% have begun a hiring freeze as the
virus reaches into every nook and cranny of commercial life.
Gap on Monday announced that it was shutting
its doors across North America and Europe on April 1 and would furlough their
workers. The company will halt wages but pay “applicable benefits” until stores
reopen, it said.
Other prominent
retailers announced massive layoffs in recent days. Macy’s and Kohl’s announced Monday that they
furloughed staff and closed their doors.
They're unlikely to
open again until late spring or until the virus is checked. It has already
infected more than 184,180 people in the United States and killed at least
3,720, according to Johns Hopkins
University data. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force
coordinator, said Tuesday that the expected peak of infection and death is
still some two weeks away.
The White House
recommended that everyone practice social distancing for another month, and
stay home if possible. More and more states are issuing stay-at-home orders and
extending them further into the future, meaning that all nonessential
businesses will remain closed.
A gallon of regular
gasoline is selling for less than $1
in some states, slaughtering jobs in the oil industry. Houston's Halliburton
Co. has furloughed 3,500 workers.
More than a million jobs in the oilfield service sector could be cut this year
as the coronavirus slashes projected sales, according to a report by Rystad Energy.
Job losses now underway
far exceed anything the country has seen before.
More than 47 million
people could be laid off, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis estimated, and the unemployment
rate could exceed 30%.
Such losses would far
exceed the worst numbers of the 2008 financial crisis and eclipse those of the
Great Depression.
Forecasters expect new
jobless claims to be released Thursday by the Labor Department will be higher
than the record 3.2 million reported last week.
Pictet Wealth
Management projected that new claims could exceed 6 million for the week ending
March 28, meaning 9 million people in total will have applied for unemployment
insurance benefits in just the past two weeks. Other projections are not so
dire; Goldman Sachs estimates job losses at 5.2 million, and Citigroup
forecasts 4 million. The median projection is 3.5 million lost jobs, according
to Bloomberg.
Rachel Greszler, a
research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, expects the unemployment rate to at
least double for March, from the historic low of 3.5% in February.
“Based on last week’s
increase in claims [of 3.2 million], we’re probably about at 5.3% as of last
week. If we see a similar jump this week, then we’ll be a little over 7% or
7.2%,” she told the Washington Examiner. "So, I would not be
surprised if we are at least at 7% and potentially much higher, as high as
9%."
The monthly
unemployment rate has not been 7% or higher since
October of 2013, according to the Labor Department.
Wells Fargo projects that the spread of the
virus will increase the jobless rate to 3.8% for the first quarter and 7.3% in
the second quarter. The unemployment rate then would drop below 7% through
2021.
The $2.3 trillion
relief bill signed by President Trump last week includes many hundreds of
billions of dollars in loans and grants designed to help businesses keep
employees on their payrolls even as they face, in many cases, a total loss of
income.
In recognition of the
fact that millions will have lost jobs almost immediately, and indeed that
officials want to see many workers staying at home rather than venturing to
workplaces where they could spread the virus, the bill also contains aid to
people who have been laid off or furloughed, meant to tide them over.
The bill provides an
additional $600 a week on top of normal state unemployment benefits. It also
provides tax rebates of $1,200 an adult.
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