Written by: AJ H.
Doesn’t this feel weird? Having to stay in your house and not being allowed to socialize with your friends who you haven’t seen in over a month feels weird to me. On the other hand, there are people reading this who love this because it gets them a few more hours of sleep and free time. Covid-19, or coronavirus, is killing thousands of people all over the world and this isn’t helping our economy. So, what is quarantining doing to it, and how are we handling it?
Well, for all the millions remaining in their house, it’s killing businesses. They aren’t able to sell enough of their goods to all their customers to earn profit. But those are businesses for products like household goods and stuff like that. Grocery stores are wiping out their shelves and aisles and making millions. Many families are going to have no income for months which causes them to cut on the spending. How are we going to help these families out?
First off, tax cuts are considered to be a must when it comes to solutions. This would allow families to purchase the goods and services they need rather than being forced to pay their usual tax amounts. Another solution would be lower prices of needs. For example, take your keys and take a drive to the nearest gas station and take a look at how much gas prices went down. Crazy right? That sure is helping a ton of families in need of lowered prices. Although many of the companies are being forced to change their price because of the pandemic, it is helping citizens. The graph below shows how gas prices have dropped in the recent months. Since February 10th, there has actually been a heavier decrease bringing them to $1.
Out of those solutions, there isn’t a major one that stands out to everyone. But, the government is looking at a 1 trillion dollar investment that would give money to every family in the United States so they could remain economically stable through these tough times. Although this would have many troubles, there is more on the bright side to do so. In conclusion, this new way to live life by being gquarinited is causing us to make different decisions and different ways to spend our money to make the most of it. So far, the government is creating new ways to handle this to help out the families in need to try to make our country the best possible.
Its is crazy how cheap gas is now! To fill up my car before used to be like $35 and now its $13.20 its insane! Different people are taking quarantine in different ways and it may be affecting some more than others which is very saddening. Hopefully this goes away fast but the lower prices stay!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this post because while everyone knows the economy is suffering and needs to be fixed in some way, a lot of people don't know how it would be fixed, and this explains various methods to approaching the problem. Gas is definitely one way of easily tracking how the economy as a whole is doing.
ReplyDeleteI am amazed that we are basically shutting down the economy over a virus and most likely ruining the economy for the next couple of years because people won't have the same amount of money as they did before this so this will effect spending for the next couple of years.
ReplyDeleteWith Covid 19 stopping basically all trade from other countries into the US I would've definitely thought the price of gas would go up, when I went to fill up my car and saw the low prices it was actually shocking. Gas has always been expensive and if the price to fill up my tank of gas is cut in half I know something is wrong with the economy.
ReplyDeleteThis whole situation really is crazy. I hadn't even thought about how gas prices were affected. It's also crazy to think about how all of this has affected the economy and how the government is handling this situation.
ReplyDeletethis was an interesting read about how badly this is affecting our economy. It really is a crazy situation.
ReplyDeleteAs you mentioned, because of so many people being forced to stay at home in quarantine, they are unable to work and make an income, thus they must be conservative and cautious about how they spend their money, especially when it comes to the essentials. Because of overall lack of consumer demand caused by a lack of income for the consumers, some industries and businesses are actually seeing a buildup of products, such as farmers having too much milk that isn't being bought by large grocers, so they have no choice but to get rid of it before it spoils. Unfortunately this economic recession that is growing worse each day as a result of this pandemic is highly reminiscent of some of the exact same events that happened during the Great Depression.
ReplyDeleteLike you said because so many people are being forces to stay home like we are now they are unable to work and make money to support their family and they are also being cautions abut how they spend their money. Industries are losing money because the people aren't spending as much because they aren't making any money.
ReplyDeleteThese are definitely crazy times for everyone, and it's causing for our definition of a 'normal' life to shift entirely. People who have jobs that are listed as "non-essential" can no longer have a steady source of income, which is a large concern and is worried about more and more day by day. The thought of taking out a substantial amount of money such as $1 trillion seems insane, but we may need to put this plan into action. Industries and businesses are losing money at a quick rate, and something needs to be done soon.
ReplyDeleteCOVID-19 has really affected many people, the economy and many other things in a harsh way. Gas prices have hit the lows and everyone's being effected.
ReplyDeleteQuarantine does have a nice effect, making people more conscious of their money. Making them really have to make important decisions of where they spend their money. However, overall the economy is falling because of it. Some things are becoming overstocked or some things never in stock. So, this is causing industries to lose money right now. This is a very difficult time to deal with right now and there are many options to try to help people but they all come with future costs. We have to think about what is best and make that decision.
ReplyDeleteLower prices on goods would be a life saver such as the gas. But the gas prices lowered not because the government wanted it to, instead it was because of market forces. You say in your article that the prices of needed items should be lowered but that is contrary to the demand of those items. People are hoarding and buying as if there is an apocalypse that will wipe out all living life, this would increase the prices. The only way of decreasing prices would be seizing the means of production but that is communism and if the US can't even provide education or health care to all, forget about public companies. The alternative is by providing more handouts, which the government is doing but not effectively in my opinion. 1000 dollars is just not enough, especially for people who live in big cities.
ReplyDeleteReading about how to handle the quarantine, and that other people are dealing with it is really informative. I liked your post because you took a look into fiscal policy, and the steps the United States government are taking to try and contrast the negative effects Covid-19 and the quarantine are having on the economy. As you stated, there is no real way to confirm what fiscal policy will work in the end, but that is why we study economics, that way we have a better understanding of the economy to make tough decisions in order to help the economy in the future.
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