Res Ipsa wrote:Every restaurant and bar in Washington State is shut down except for drive-through, take out, and delivery.
Oh wow, I didn't realize.
If I am remembering correctly, Georgia may have had some of the earliest deaths from COVID-19. They just didn't know it. If that's true, there are lots of cases circulating in your state that haven't been found for lack of testing. I'll keep posting what is happening here in Washington. Take it as a coming attraction for your area.
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.”
― Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951
Dr Exiled wrote:Well, government encouraging staying at home, spiking demand downward and forcing such like in S.F., seems to warrant some compensation. I just got off the phone with a manager at a local restaurant. They are closing one of their locations and are busy trying to preserve what food they can. They are probably facing bankruptcy in the near future to stave off an eviction while they restructure, attempt to reopen.
We just got access to loans from the SBA for small businesses that are shut down or are suffering. The state is also doing what it can to keep businesses from going under and provide assistance to employees who can't go to work.
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.”
― Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951
Dr Exiled wrote:Well, government encouraging staying at home, spiking demand downward and forcing such like in S.F., seems to warrant some compensation. I just got off the phone with a manager at a local restaurant. They are closing one of their locations and are busy trying to preserve what food they can. They are probably facing bankruptcy in the near future to stave off an eviction while they restructure, attempt to reopen.
Yes, I agree. Come to think of it, we used to own a gas station and I remember the local government compensating us for three months while they did massive construction right in front of our entrance. We had to produce revenue documents for them to determine how much they needed to compensate us for the lost business.
I get that.
I would venture to say that people in Red States aren't taking it as seriously based off of my Facebook feed, and the fact that I just drove by a BBQ joint and the parking lot was nearly full. There still seems to be a not so insignificant number of people who believe this is still a hoax set up by the media to hurt Trump. Its a big nothing burger. The common flu and nothing more, so they'll be defiant to any government recommendation and go out anyway.
Well, Trump did us no favors by his initial denial that there was a problem. His supporters seem to support him no matter what he says, so hopefully they'll follow his pivot to treating this seriously. As he says: "we'll see."
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.”
― Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951
DarkHelmet wrote:Hoarding food from Costco and walmart isn't helping things. If the health experts say drive throughs, takeout, and delivery is safe, and the restaurants aren't shut down in your area, everyone should be encouraged to do that to support their local businesses. Obviously be smart about it. Don't hug the delivery driver. I'm not sure if it will be enough to save these companies or prevent mass layoffs, but we need to be smart about stopping the spread of C19 while minimizing the economic impact as much as possible.
Exactly! We have to walk and chew gum. If you need a loaf of bread, stop by your local bakery and pick one up. If you're still getting a paycheck and normally eat out, see if your local restaurant does take out or order through a delivery service. If a place you normally shop is temporarily closed, see if you can buy a gift card. There are lots of things we can do individually to help.
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.”
― Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951
Something like half of all meals are eaten outside of the home. As restaurant business vanishes, that puts a demand crunch on grocers and it becomes increasingly rational to preemptively panic buy. Get your giant bags of rice while you can.
(Mormons, of course, may already have their 6 month supply of soup cans )
EAllusion wrote:Something like half of all meals are eaten outside of the home. As restaurant business vanishes, that puts a demand crunch on grocers and it becomes increasingly rational to preemptively panic buy. Get your giant bags of rice while you can.
The first round of panic buying here started a week or two before there was any talk of closing restaurants. But, as you say, we had a second round prompted by the restaurant and bar closings. Haven't ventured out today to see how we're doing.
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.”
― Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951
The optimists on this front seem awfully rosey in their projections of when activity can ramp up again without risking mass death.
If mass death were to occur, would that not increase the price of labor? I've heard theories that the plague in medieval Europe was the only thing that ultimately raised wages.
And when the confederates saw Jackson standing fearless as a stone wall the army of Northern Virginia took courage and drove the federal army off their land.
If I am remembering correctly, Georgia may have had some of the earliest deaths from COVID-19.
Are you Keivn Graham Icarus?
And when the confederates saw Jackson standing fearless as a stone wall the army of Northern Virginia took courage and drove the federal army off their land.
EAllusion wrote:As restaurant business vanishes, that puts a demand crunch on grocers and it becomes increasingly rational to preemptively panic buy. Get your giant bags of rice while you can.
The expression 'panic buying' is surely best reserved for the irrational buying of large amounts of commodities which are not, in fact, in short supply. This can, however, temporarily empty supermarket shelves (because it takes time to deliver more supplies, even though there are plenty in the warehouse), which then feeds the idiocy of even more panic buying, and so on.
Since larger restaurants generally order their supplies from specialist wholesale companies rather than from local shops, I don't think that the closure of a large restaurant will generally have much of a direct effect on the establishments from which local consumers buy. I don't know what proportion of (say) rice is ordered by restaurants compared to private consumers, but I shouldn't expect it to be very large, so that the decrease in rice prices due to the loss of restaurant demand may not be great.
Zadok: I did not have a faith crisis. I discovered that the Church was having a truth crisis. Maksutov: That's the problem with this supernatural stuff, it doesn't really solve anything. It's a placeholder for ignorance.
The optimists on this front seem awfully rosey in their projections of when activity can ramp up again without risking mass death.
If mass death were to occur, would that not increase the price of labor? I've heard theories that the plague in medieval Europe was the only thing that ultimately raised wages.
It depends on who dies. Most of our deaths in Washington have been in care facilities. Most were elderly and not employed. So their deaths won’t decrease the supply of labor, which is what your question assumes. But they were consuming services that use labor. So, their deaths reduce demand for those services, which reduces the demand for labor. So, wages fall.
Suppose the virus killed almost exclusively people with less than 20-20 vision. What would that do to your profession?
This virus mostly kills the elderly. So, bad for businesses that serve the needs of the elderly.
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.”
― Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951
)