As the debt bombs in Italy and Spain and France get worse, it increasingly looks like the eurozone will have to bail out a huge portion of the European economy. Either that, or break up the EU, provoking a new crisis.
When governments and central banks announce massive stimulus packages at the very beginning of a crisis, they bet on a speedy recovery and a return to normal as if nothing had happened. This is far from the case.
Although it may seem as if landlord simply collect money from tenants without working, nothing could be further from the truth. Landlords invest their stored labor—savings—at a risk and with the knowledge that they won't recoup their money for some time. In the creating or renovating rental properties, they aid those who can't store their labor yet—tenants and laborers.
When governments and central banks announce massive stimulus packages at the very beginning of a crisis, they bet on a speedy recovery and a return to normal as if nothing had happened. This is far from the case.
Bureaucrats cannot conjure wealth from nothing. They only have what they extract from the private sector. Unfortunately, the bureaucrats are now starving the private sector of funding while making government budgets ever larger.
Even if the COVOID-19 virus turns out to be more severe than the skeptics give us reason to think it is, we can get through it. We cannot survive the end of the division of labor. It would be the finish of civilization as we know it.
Taiwan's response to COVID-19 mostly means self-imposed quarantines and more transparency. It's basically the opposite of what Europe is doing.
The key to recovering jobs quickly and efficiently is the combination of a flexible labor market, an attractive investment framework, and solid policies to preserve the business fabric of the country.
Africa is in no position to bring a halt to economic activity. Urban poverty and huge debts present an apparent choice between rampant disease and mass impoverishment.
