Actually, that‘s the easiest statistic, but doesn‘t tell the whole story.

I'd ask "most relevant for what", but that would sound pedantic. I don't think a single figure paints the picture quite that well: Italy has a terrible number of deaths per capita due to the way the pandemic hit the elderly first there. And the number of cases per capita affects hospitals very directly, whether patients get well or don't. So I think you must look at both figures, which is why they're always published side-by-side.

But what other countries' leaders have told its people that the virus is "no big deal" and would just "go away like a miracle?" How many other countries' leaders have caught COVID and required medical treatment for it and then afterward exclaimed that the virus is nothing to worry about despite hundreds of thousands of people in their country having died from that virus?

How many other countries have leaders who have encouraged their supporters to protest against lockdowns at a time when the number of cases and deaths was dramatically rising?

How many other countries have leaders who have chosen to ignore science and scientists and have tried to demonize those scientists and who have chosen to ignore a lengthy government document outlining how to handle a pandemic simply because that document had been constructed by a former administration that that leader has some kind of personal vendetta agenda against?

At the beginning? All of them. Including China, where it started. And included WHO.

What I like now is the fact that if Biden says how to fix it, I think people will follow. Not because in general people would trust him.more, but because there is enough perspective and knowledge about Covid now.

I think in general yanks are independent, it is hard to tell them to do something and expect them to follow. They ade brought up to lead. In my experience.

You're saying that at one point the WHO said that COVID-19 is "no big deal" ? I don't remember that.

I think we are all responsible for the handling of Covid - and we're not really good at handling it, and neither are our leaders.

Unfortunately I have to disagree, based on what I have seen and how Americans I regularly talk to - who by the way come from all sides of the political, social and economic spectra - have reacted to the pandemic.

Trump greatest act of irresponsibility was to politicize a public health emergency. And because of that from some quarters I don't see much in the way of independence of thought or action, rather I see unquestioned and uninformed behaviour based on which political camp one aligns with.

Important information, especially new information developed as we learn more about the virus*, simply does not reach certain bubbles. Far too many Americans drew a line in the sand last spring, and will not budge from there.




*One of the worst things that happened to America was the 'flip flop' label, which worked so well for GWB (actually Karl Rove) in his campaign against Kerry. Suddenly learning from evolving information and changing policies in response to new situations became a Bad Thing, potential political suicide. Much of what is wrong in our country can be traced back to making intractability a political virtue.

When did the WHO tell people that the virus was no big deal? They sent a team of scientists to Wuhan last January to investigate the virus and then immediately put together a lengthy document, detailing what was known about the virus at the time and warning countries about a pending pandemic and then issued that document to world leaders. I have posted a link to part of that document below (it is dated January 10). Trump received that document, and yet still told Americans that the virus was "no big deal." And he later confessed to knowing about the real threat of the virus at the time that he said it.

https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/...2020.1-eng.pdf

If China was trying to downplay the threat of the virus, why did it completely shut off Wuhan from the rest of China, go around yelling at people to return home with drones, why did it contact the WHO regarding the virus and then allow the WHO to come to Wuhan to study it?

You are sitting comfortably in Switzerland, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and have the privilege to invest.

What most people lacking perspective like yourself do not realize, is that most of the American population's survival does not depend on how well you do in your investments.

Oh dear, another barely concealed typical Forum insult, one that crops up just about as often as “you haven’t read the link you’ve posted”

To exemplify my “lack of in-depth knowledge”, let’s look at inflation in a little more detail. The big problem with your chart showing that the US has a “healthy” inflation rate is firstly that the inflation isn’t calculated in a way the truly reflects the real value.

Inflation is understood by many to mean “rising prices” and is calculated by taking a basket full of consumer products. These are prone to deflationary forces such as competitiveness and increased productivity. House prices and financial assets are largely ignored when central banks calculate the inflation rate, therefore this is not a reflection of the “real” rate of inflation. Real inflation is the expansion in the supply of credit and money resulting in higher prices, basically the debasement of money.

Inflation is also tied to debt (which is why I mentioned them together), as it is the easiest means for a government to erode the value of its debt. When the US came off the gold standard in 1971 there was about $470 billion in existence. Today it’s around $16 trillion, about 34 times higher than in 1971, this compared to a GDP that has grown about 16 times and a population that has increased by about 60%. Money supply has far outgrown both. This is true inflation.

Biden is not impotent, and America, and this forum, expect more from the great man than sitting on his hands.

He can grasp the bull by the horns and mandate masks, close every bar, nightclub and restaurant, gyms, etc etc.

What about a 3 week circuit breaker?

The virus cat is certainly out of the bag, but he can't sit there and blame Trump for a year.

In Europe, it's called Christmas break, although a bit shorter. In the US, it's called a lockdown. The holidays are so much shorter there.

I don't think he can do it, though.

But people aren't blaming Trump for the virus. People are blaming Trump for his handling of the virus. There's a difference.

I think Biden will be much more likely to "grab the bull by the horns" than Trump ever was. Trump was always too concerned about appeasing his support base in order to try to get re-elected.

https://joebiden.com/covid-plan/
It's all there.
But it's all woolly spending money and supporting people through this crisis, and nothing on the tough decisions needed to actually do something about it other than waiting for the vaccine.
On day one, he needs to come out of the Whitehouse with a big hitting plan, if he's got one.

I didn't conceal anything.

Equivocation and red herring in only one sentence. Either we use the regular meaning of inflation, usually defined and measured consistently for decades by official bodies (in the case of the US it's the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics), or you can go back and edit your statement, which said:

(the bold is mine)

So instead of argumenting against the facts I cited, you want to distract from the argument and start re-defining the meaning of inflation.

House prices are not included in the calculation of inflation, which is built on the CPI (Consumer Price Index), because they are not consumed within the measured year. But rent IS included, which is around 30% of housing needs in the US.

Let's call that the Tony Clifton Index (TCI). We can have a serious discussion about how a government can go about affecting the TCI, but that's a different game.

Inflation in the US is not out of control. Maybe you can double-check with someone from Zimbabwe, Venezuela, or Argentina, what "inflation out of control" means. Oh, wait...I'm from Argentina.

__________________
The internet makes it easy to be a jerk and forget the person we're talking to is a human. It also makes us see messages from awful people and assume they come from normal peers.

Er no.

I know plenty of people who don't make much money but still understand that saving up a teeny weeny bit every month, even if its peanuts, is good practice and good discipline.

The stock market is not just a playground of the rich either. There are lots of people there with comparatively small sums invested. Have you ever been to the AGM of a big corporation? You see grandpas in moth-eaten woolies turning up to vote with one single share even, and probably relishing the free food more than some penny dividend. Especially since banks have all but eliminated meaningful interest on savings accounts.

And even people who don't directly hold stocks often do so indirectly through pension funds etc. Any gain on the stock market is good for everybody.

But even if there is some truth to the statement that the poor don't benefit from market gains, I don't really see that being the same as evidence of an epic stock market crash. In fact I don't see a connection between the two.

Based off of his cabinet picks it looks like we will indeed return to normal.
The normality of endless wars. Back to the killing fields we go. Seperated limbs, dead children laying in the streets next to thier dead parents. But hey, we got rid of that twatter troll. That was way worse. No I no longer hide behind my hipocracy and double standards, I hold them high and proud- Neo Libs

OK, it's clear we're not looking at this from the same perspective. It's important to understand what inflation means, and this certainly doesn't apply to the US alone, and why inflation has consequences.

By suppressing interest rates and through quantitive easing, central banks devalue money (and the nations debt), whilst at the same time taking from anyone who holds money. The result of this is that people are poorer, houses are so expensive as to have become unaffordable. Wages may have risen but not by as much as the purchasing power of money.

This has led to a situation where people are more in debt, they have to work longer, they have less children, both parents have to work to maintain lifestyle, more people renting their accommodation etc. This effects lower and middle income people the worst whereby we're now in a situation where for the first time in history the next generation is poorer than the last. This is ultimately a result of big government spending and consequently people like Donald Trump get elected into power.

I don't see that giving tests for free nor paying more in benefits is going to help fight the virus.

When interest rates are close to 0, governments have very few ways to boost the economy and keep goods flowing. Quantitative easing not only brings more M1 and M2 into the market, but can also boost the value of pension funds and dramatically reduce the cost of borrowing, thus increasing spending and income. It doesn't make people poorer, and it has a very small impact on the real-estate market. Particularly in the US, where it's an owner's market.

I think the US (same as the UK) has a high-spending culture that fosters borrowing and getting in debt. Coupled with poor education for the middle class, no wonder so many people are in deep debt. No wonder either that the system needs an entire "credit history" market.

In my opinion, blue-collar workers in the US have to work longer because the country has been too conservative for too long, and there aren't enough regulations (nor the culture) to protect workers against miserable wages. Conservative Americans's feathers are easily ruffled when they hear of illegal inmigrants working in meat-packing plants, but say nothing about the American companies that hire them, and pay minimum wage, that nobody can live on.

America's extreme brand on individualism (and a two-party system) is tearing the country in two.

__________________
The internet makes it easy to be a jerk and forget the person we're talking to is a human. It also makes us see messages from awful people and assume they come from normal peers.