[ExI] schools, was: RE: Even India and Haiti do it better

[Dylan Distasio]

On Fri, May 8, 2020 at 11:45 AM spike jones via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

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> > *On Behalf Of *Dylan Distasio via extropy-chat
> *Subject:* Re: [ExI] schools, was: RE: Even India and Haiti do it better
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> >…The irony here is that schools are probably the last thing that should
> have ever been closed based on both the economic hardships foisted on lower
> income families as a result and the fact that the risk of death for those
> age groups is close to zero…
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> Hi Dylan, ja, however the risk of students carrying that virus home and
> infecting their parents and grandparents is high.  I hear ya, and partially
> agree, but the school board recognizes the risk to the family members and
> is making decisions based on that.
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I understand, although I will point out that it is questionable whether or
not they spread at the same level as adults.  I'm not saying it would not
be a calculated risk, as definitive evidence does not exist, but here's a
recent discussion on it:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01354-0



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> I anticipate that the state income tax will zoom way up, the sales tax
> will zoom way up pretty soon, the gas tax (all of these will be forced on
> the state) but not the property tax: that one is set in stone (fortunately
> for homeowners.)
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Yes, I agree, we're all likely to get taxed out the a$$ to cover this mess
at the state level.  It's also an easy excuse to raise taxes regardless.


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> Ja, so what do we do?  I can imagine governments all over the world are
> facing pretty similar problems: they must realize that shutting down an
> economy is a really bad option, even if not shutting it down is also a
> really bad option.
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Well, I understand why some of it was rushed, but I don't think it was a
good idea to apply blanket unemployment checks with $600 tacked on just
because it was logistically more challenging to check their actual
incomes.   If unemployment always worked like this, it would be a disaster.

The lack of constraints on the PPP was the inexcusable part, and was easily
avoided.  New Zealand also helped businesses but had much more stringent
terms to be able to get the loan, and btw these aren't even loans for
practical purposes, most of them will be forgiven if you use them towards
payroll only and meet a few other basic requirements.


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> Does anyone see any realistic alternative?
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I saw one before this mess.  Enforce common sense social distancing ala
Sweden and keep things open.  Yes, of course, the economy would still take
a major hit, and theirs has as well, but more commerce is being transacted
than it would have been with a US/European style lockdown, and not as many
people would be unemployed.

The only thing to do now is reopen and deal with both the virus and the
economy as best we can.
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