Diagoras wrote:
We all got through the Global Financial Crisis. Not to minimise the effects and very real pain felt on an individual basis, but economies have a good track record of recovery.
We "recovered" through the Great Recession of 2007/2008 because we kicked the can down the road. We've now run past the end of the road and running on the dirt track. Interest rates have gone negative and the Fed balance sheet is skyrocketing with QE infinity. The Fed is now buying practically all asset classes and equities are sure to come next. With endless bailouts and handouts by the government, federal debt will soon destroy the US either through bankruptcy or hyperinflation.
In Hungary, PM Viktor Orban has seized authoritative power over the state.
Well, that's one current example. He's the kind of dictator that would take advantage of a crisis to do that. I'm not aware of others,
Here's some more examples:
Trump claims ‘total’ authority, over govs, to reopen economy
Netanyahu and rival Gantz clinch Israel power-sharing deal
'Dictator for life': Xi Jinping's power grab condemned as step towards tyranny
I'm struggling to think why a government would keep severe restrictions in place long enough to allow a huge number of people to starve. Defeats the purpose (keeping people safe) of the initial lockdown. I don't expect to read of millions of starving people.
Governments do not make rational decisions, even if they claim that their actions are helping the people.
More often than not, the actions of governments in the long run destroy. The lower/middle class are promised "relief" with a few thousand dollars from the CARES act. But, who is going to pay for the $1.6 trillion bill? Assuming 145 million taxpayers in the US and personal income tax accounts for 50% of tax collections, that means each taxpayer would have to pay $5,500. The public getting a cash advance now means a bill with a huge interest that needs to be paid in the future.
As for food, we will continue to see more and more people become desperate.
Virus triggers African unrest: Riots break out in Johannesburg over food shortages
but an apocalyptic scenario that ends the whole of humankind? No way.
I'm not necessarily arguing for the end of humanity (though like I mentioned I'm starting to believe it). But I am arguing for the end of the world as we know it. We are witnessing the collapse of the economy, society, and politics. It is not limited to the US, but global.