The May 5, 2020 of the Wall Street Journal was, not unexpectedly, filled with articles on the virus. The ones standing out were the headlines on the front page discussing the massive amount of new debt and the risk workers and companies face as businesses reopen.
I wrote a few months ago about how we’ve been running huge deficits in a booming economy instead of reducing the deficits. Now we’re looking at borrowing $4.5 trillion this fiscal year so the economy had better get super-healthy pretty darn quick.
But the above falls into the, “That was then, this is now” category. One of the best lines was from a director at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (which seems to be a bi-partisan organization) who said, “When your farm is burning you don’t worry if you have enough water to make through the next three crop seasons. You put out the fire and then you worry about it later.”
So it’s all-aboard to pump up the economy. But, as I wrote in a recent Random Thoughts memo, what if the customers are too scared to come back? We’re already getting reports of customers and employees being scared to return to work in states that started opening up two weeks ago.
Which brings us to the second subject, the dispute about the government giving businesses liability protection against worker lawsuits in regard to getting COVID on-the-job. The meat packing industry (vegetarians can laugh here) is at the forefront of this. The President has ordered them to stay open, workers are scared, many can’t work as they have the virus, so it’s the proverbial “can of worms.”
The Republicans want full protection for businesses, the Democrats don’t, fearing companies will take advantage of workers, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is in the middle, wanting protection for firms that follow federal and state guidelines. I can see both sides. A business, especially when ordered to be open or considered essential, won’t want the risk of lawsuits. Employees have good reason to fear bosses will not prioritize their safety to meet production numbers. The Chamber’s position seems to be a good compromise.
Again, a couple interesting situations with no easily agreed to solutions.
“You may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in love with a team in defeat.” (Sportswriter) Roger Kahn
