In the age of coronavirus, big government is back

[Peter1469]

In the age of coronavirus, big government is back

Well, many thing that was the plan. Or at least not letting a crisis go to waste.

Policymakers are as worried about the economic tremors unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic as its deadly risks for public health.Global markets remain in chaos, global travel has stalled to a small fraction of its usual levels, global trade has slowed and national leaders everywhere are bracing for a wave of unemployment and societal distress.

In Europe and the United States, governments across the political spectrum are now plotting vast sums of state spending and loans to shore up their beleaguered societies. Lawmakers in Washington wrangled Thursday over a mammoth stimulus plan that could add up to $1 trillion. Germany’s central bank has said it could lend as much as $610 billion to companies. Britain’s Conservative government, criticized for its lack of preparation as the outbreak worsened, has proposed about $400 billion in loans and $35 billion in direct state aid to individuals and firms in need.

The French government proposed Wednesday about $50 billion in spending, plus $320 billion in loan guarantees, as part of a new emergency budget. That marked a reverse from its controversial initiatives to loosen up the economy, indefinitely suspending earlier planned spending cuts and pension reforms.



“We are facing an economic and financial war,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told reporters. “This economic and financial war will be long, it will be violent and will require all the strength of our nation, Europe,” and the Group of 7 advanced economies, he said.

Read the rest at the link.

[Cotton1]

[The Xl]

That was the plan from the start.