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Authored by Bryce Buchanan via AmericanThinker.com,

The COVID-19 pandemic can be used to illustrate two problems that are both more destructive than the virus.  

The problems relate to how Americans view the role of government in their lives and to the belief that government money can always fix problems. 

Let’s look at the money issue first.  

The immediate reaction of our government to the virus threat was to spend massive amounts of money.  The latest news is that politicians plan to “boost” the economy with nearly two trillion dollars in spending and loans.  “The package is coming in at about 10% of GDP.  It’s very large,” says Larry Kudlow.  For a plan of this size to sound like a good idea, you need to ignore some important economic facts.

Our country has unbelievable levels of debt, and our debt is rising rapidly.  The numbers are staggering.  The debt clock shows U.S. debt at $23 trillion (nearly 110% of the GDP) and unfunded liabilities of $77 trillion.  That’s a conservative estimate.  Boston University economist Laurence Kotlikoff, an expert on the national debt, says, “The true size of our fiscal problem is $222 trillion…20 times bigger than the official debt.”  He says, “The government has gone out of its way to run up a Ponzi scheme and keep evidence of that off the books by using language to make it appear that we have a small debt.”

We are on the Titanic, headed for the debt iceberg.  In brief moments of clear vision, we see the iceberg and know we must change course to avoid disaster.  But a self-imposed fog allows us to pretend things are fine.  Do not look away.  Look directly at this problem.  It’s real.  Things that are unsustainable cannot be sustained.  Reality always bats last. 

There is also an important moral dimension to new spending programs.  The government has spent all of its income and much more, so we should think of new spending programs as simply more debt being piled onto our children and grandchildren.  The required first sentence of any new spending bill should be, “Our current consumption is more important to us than any burden we will place on future generations, therefore let’s place this much more debt on them.”

It is immoral to ignore the burden of the deficit on future generations.  We are digging a hole for them that they will never get out of.  Government debt is a government claim on future incomes.  It is an unpaid tax bill.

You can make the case that big deficit spending is warranted to protect current and future citizens in a time of war.  Some level of spending is warranted in the fight against this virus.  But look at the big picture of government expansion over the last several decades as the administrative state grew and the deficit exploded.  Does it make you a caring person if you propose “free health care” for everyone, including illegal aliens?  No, it makes you a dangerous fool.

In the socialist dream world, there will never be a day of reckoning for government debt.   Stephanie Kelton, an economic adviser to Bernie Sanders, said, “If you control your own currency and you have bills that are coming due, it means you can always afford to pay the bills on time.  You can never go broke; you can never be forced into bankruptcy.”

Governments that have tried this approach have ended up with money that looks like this 50-trillion-dollar bill from Zimbabwe.  It’s real paper money.  But this $50 trillion wouldn’t buy much.  In Venezuela, the inflation rate is around 53 million percent.  That means everything costs more every day.  And with socialist destruction of the economy, there are far fewer things to buy.  This kind of money does help with the toilet paper shortage, though.

Governments can create money, but creating money does not create wealth.  Wealth comes from productivity.  Putting ink on small pieces of paper does not make wealth.  You can visualize this fact quite easily.  Imagine that our government officials keep businesses closed “to protect us from the virus,” but they send everyone large checks every month.  Our benevolent leaders made sure we had lots of money, so we are all taken care of, right?

Without productive people, the true engine of wealth, Atlas would shrug, and the world would fall into its natural state, which is poverty.  Anything that destroys productivity also destroys prosperity.  That is why socialism has never worked and never will.  The socialist utopian delusion is that people like Bernie and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez can manage taxing and spending in such a way that everything people really need will be free.  Alarming numbers of young people have this delusion. 

Unless you are new to this planet, or are blind to reality, you understand that government bureaucracies are an inefficient and expensive way to provide anything. 

Politicians themselves don’t have the ability to “provide” material things.  They can only transfer money or borrow money.  Said another way, they can take the productive accomplishments of one group and give them to another group, or they can borrow from our children to pay for current consumption.  That’s it.  They buy votes in one of these two ways. 

Let’s now discuss how Americans view the role of government in their lives and see how it relates to the current crisis.  

When our nation was young, citizens accepted both the pleasures and the perils of liberty.  They enjoyed the right to direct their own lives and accepted the resulting responsibilities.  The government was small and far away.  The explicit goal of the Founders was to keep it small because the sphere of liberty shrinks as the size of government grows.  Self-reliance was considered an important virtue.  Children may expect others to take care of them, but adults do not. 

People in need were helped by their neighbors.  Charity has always been a big part of the American spirit.  The goal of charity was to restore people to self-reliance.  The lesson in Aesop’s fable “The Grasshopper and the Ants” was an integral part of American values.  The story shows the wisdom of preparing to take care of yourself in hard times.

In 200 years, Americans have moved a long, long way from self-reliance toward government dependence.  President Franklin Roosevelt did more to move the citizens in the direction of government dependency than any other president.  Yet look at what he said in 1935, when everyone could see that Roosevelt’s big spending programs were not ending the Great Depression.  In his State of the Union speech, he said:

The burden on the Federal Government has grown with great rapidity[.] … The lessons of history, confirmed by the evidence immediately before me, show conclusively that continued dependence upon [government] relief induces a spiritual disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fiber.  To dole our relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit.  It is inimical to the dictates of a sound policy.  It is in violation of the traditions of America[.] … The Federal Government must and shall quit this business of relief.

Has the “national fiber” been “fundamentally destroyed”?  Has self-reliance been replaced by acceptance of dependence?  Ask Americans these questions: whose responsibility is it to take care of people when they are old?  Whose responsibility is it to take care of children if the father doesn’t care about doing it?  Who should be responsible for educating children?  Who should pay the bills when someone loses his job?  I think a very small number of people would say family members or charities should take responsibility.  These duties have been taken over by massive, inefficient government bureaucracies. 

Early Americans expected the government to leave them alone.  Many present-day Americans expect the government to take care of them. 

The assumption that the government will take care of your needs is “a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit.”  If you have the childlike attitude that someone (government) should take care of you, it changes how you prepare for future problems.  This attitude is why 25% of Americans do not even have a savings account, and 40% say they would have trouble paying an unexpected expense of $400.

Americans are not prepared for trouble, and trouble is here.

Americans are Aesop’s grasshopper in winter.  This will greatly magnify the economic crisis caused by the current shutdown of productive activity.  If economic activity is smothered for too long, many businesses will not survive.  “Helicopter money” dropped by the government will not fix this problem.

President Trump understands that America’s productive engine needs to be switched on as soon as possible.  That will help, but the debt explosion and the increasing dependence on government are much more dangerous to our Republic than the Wuhan virus.

“Hot spots like Detroit, like Chicago, like New Orleans… will have a worse week next week than what they had this week,” US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams warned in a “CBS This Morning” on Friday. This as Louisiana has surpassed 2,300 confirmed cases, and New Orleans seemingly ‘out of nowhere’ emerged as a US epicenter alongside New York, given it was only two weeks ago Louisiana had 300 just coronavirus cases total, but now New Orleans alone has reached 1,000 cases.

And separately federal officials stationed in New Orleans say the city faces a drastic shortage of ventilators and protective equipment: “This is going to be the disaster that defines our generation,” Collin Arnold, director of the city’s Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, told CNN Thursday.

Already the blame-game has begun, as previously neglected Louisiana is thrust into the spotlight. Consider this astounding CNN appearance by New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, who says it’s all Trump’s fault because she thought it was ‘safe’ to go ahead with Mardi Gras which likely infected hundreds with coronavirus:

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell blames Trump for her not canceling Mardi Gras: “When it’s not taken seriously at the federal level. It’s very difficult to transcend down to the local level in making these decisions.” pic.twitter.com/JF1VgNsJHB

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 26, 2020

She claimed she as the mayor would have canceled Mardis Gras if only Trump had warned her! Talk about what is likely to remain the most cringe-worthy moment of passing the buck to come out of this crisis…

“Leaders on the ground, we rely on the facts to make decisions for the people that we serve,” said Cantrell, adding there were no “red flags” in February about Mardi Gras, which it should be noted sees some 1.4 million tourists descend on the Big Easy each year from January 6 to February 25, which marks Fat Tuesday.

“In hindsight, if we were given clear direction, we would not have had Mardi Gras, and I would have been the leader to cancel it,” Mayor Cantrell told CNN.

She framed her decision to move forward with events as usual as “backed up by the response of our national leader” – in a clear reference to President Trump.

“When it’s not taken seriously at the federal level. It’s very difficult to transcend down to the local level in making these decisions,” the mayor told Wolf Blitzer as she laid blame on everyone but herself.

Meanwhile a medical professional quoted in the New York Times admits, “I think it all boils down to Mardi Gras… The greatest free party in the world was a perfect incubator at the perfect time.”

And another, Dr. Rebekah Gee, former Health Secretary for Louisiana and now chief of Louisiana State University’s health care services division, put it like this:

“New Orleans had its normal level of celebration, which involved people congregating in large crowds and some 1.4 million tourists,” Gee said. “We shared drink cups. We shared each other’s space in the crowds. People were in close contact catching beads. It is now clear that people also caught coronavirus.”

The pandemic threat has now dramatically increased not just in Louisiana but across the entire south of the country.

Local authorities knew full well what was coming: 

🚔 “Your actions are jeopardizing public health.” – New Orleans Police as they clear crowds from Bourbon Street. #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/Q2T0M5WrcC

— Brantly Keiek (@BrantlyWx) March 16, 2020

As Reuters observes alarmingly: “The plight of New Orleans – with the world’s highest growth rate in coronavirus cases – also raises fears that the city may become a powerful catalyst in spreading the virus across the south of the country.”

“Authorities have warned the number of cases in New Orleans could overwhelm its hospitals by April 4,” the report warns.

The Pound Sterling soared a stunning 7.1% this week – its greatest weekly gains since 1985 and the beginning of the Plaza Accord – but apparently that strengthening currency was not enough for Fitch who downgraded The United Kingdom’s credit rating to AA-.

The downgrade of the UK’s IDRs reflects the following key rating drivers and their relative weights:

HIGH

The downgrade reflects a significant weakening of the UK’s public finances caused by the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and a fiscal loosening stance that was instigated before the scale of the crisis became apparent. The downgrade also reflects the deep near-term damage to the UK economy caused by the coronavirus outbreak and the lingering uncertainty regarding the post-Brexit UK-EU trade relationship. The commensurate and necessary policy response to contain the COVID-19 outbreak will result in a sharp rise in general government deficit and debt ratios, leading to an acceleration in the deterioration of public finance metrics over the medium term.

The Negative Outlook reflects our view that reversing the deterioration in the fiscal metrics beyond 2020 will not be a political priority for the UK government. Moreover, uncertainty around the future trade relationship with the EU could constrain the strength of the post-crisis economic recovery.

The coronavirus outbreak has inflicted an unprecedented shock on financial markets and economic activity, with policymakers struggling to avert a longer-lasting downturn. In common with other advanced countries, the UK has shut down parts of its economy to slow the spread of the disease, which will cause a deep contraction centred on 2Q20. On 23 March, Prime Minister Johnson announced more drastic measures to contain the spread of COVID-19, including closure of all non-essential shops and a ban of public gatherings of more than two people.

Under our much-revised baseline forecast that reflects the lockdown measures across the UK, we now estimate that GDP could fall by close to 4% in 2020. In the baseline, we assume that containment measures can be unwound in 2H20, allowing for recovery in sequential growth and the broader economy, leading to a sharp recovery in growth to around 3% in 2021. However, with so much depending on the extent and duration of the coronavirus outbreak, there is material downside risk to these economic forecasts. A plausible downside case, including a second wave of infections and a longer lockdown period, would see an even larger decline in output in 2020 and a weaker recovery in 2021. The strength of the recovery is subject to lingering Brexit uncertainty, as the final shape of any future trade deal with the EU remains unknown and the risk of the transition period ending without a deal persists.

The UK’s public finances were already set to weaken following the stimulus measures announced in the budget on 11 March, and they are now set to deteriorate more rapidly. The government has announced substantive fiscal policy easing to mitigate the impact of the lockdown measures on the economy. There is some uncertainty around the fiscal impact, which will depend on the severity and length of the lockdown and the sustainability of any progress in coronavirus containment. Under our baseline, we estimate that the general government deficit will increase to around 9% in 2021 from 2.1% of GDP in 2019. Within this forecast, we estimate that the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme will cost 1.3% of GDP, assuming that 4.7 million employees will be supported over the three month duration of the scheme. We estimate that the whole COVID-19 response fiscal package will cost 4.4% of GDP in 2020.

For 2021 we do not include any further discretionary fiscal easing but we expect upward pressures on spending to persist. The expected recovery in GDP growth should support a rebound in revenue growth. Under these assumptions, we expect the deficit to narrow in 2021. General government debt will rise to 94% and 98% in 2020 and 2021, respectively, from 84.5% in 2019. Over the medium term, we expect public debt to peak at well above 100% of GDP beyond 2025 assuming a gradual reduction in fiscal deficits and trend GDP growth of 1.6%.

We fully recognise that timely and targeted policies can help reduce the risk of a more sustained loss of economic output. The likelihood that temporary stimulus measures are unwound will reflect policy choices and political developments. However, in our view, given the direction of public finances reflected in the March 2020 budget, it is unlikely that reducing public deficit and debt levels will be a priority for the UK government. Excluding GBP12 billion of COVID-19 related measures, the budget was targeting a rise in the fiscal deficit by GBP30 billion (1.4% of GDP) by 2024-25 and an increase in net debt of GBP125 billion (5.8% of GDP) relative to the pre-budget baseline.

Additionally, Fitch writes that The UK’s IDRs also reflect the following key rating drivers:

The UK’s ratings balance a high income, diversified and advanced economy against high and rising public sector indebtedness. Sterling’s reserve currency status, deep capital market and strong governance indicators support the ratings. The very long average maturity of public debt (15 years) is among the highest of all Fitch-rated sovereigns and mitigates refinancing and interest rate risks. Public debt is exclusively in sterling, so a weaker exchange rate will not lead to deterioration in debt dynamics.

The Bank of England (BoE) has responded swiftly to the health crisis by cutting the base rate by 65bp to 0.1% and restarting quantitative easing with GBP200 billion of asset purchases, which will include gilts and corporate sector bonds. The response also includes a new Term Funding Scheme for SMEs, increased contingent access for banks to liquidity via a new contingent term repo facility in addition to the BoE’s regular sterling market operations; and the COVID-19 Corporate Financing Facility to provide funding to business through the purchase of corporate commercial paper of up to one year maturity. The Financial Policy Committee (FPC) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) have adopted measures to support credit supply, including the reduction of the countercyclical capital buffer to 0% with immediate effect. This was set at 1% and was due to rise to 2% in December 2020. The cut is expected to support up to GBP190 billion of bank lending for businesses.

In Fitch’s view, the swift and coordinated macroeconomic policy response by the UK Treasury and the Bank of England should limit the second-round effects of the initial shock and should help growth to recover, assuming that the immediate health crisis subsides. In particular, the combined liquidity support measures which include GBP330 billion (15% of UK GDP) of loans and guarantees from the Treasury and the Bank of England are an important component of an effective near-term policy response, providing support to the ratings.

Another component of the budget not related to COVID-19 was the announced increase in investment spending to 3% of national income, which would be its highest level for 65 years. Whether higher investment spending improves UK productivity and medium-term growth prospects would depend on how effectively such measures as large infrastructure projects are targeted. At this stage, we are not assuming any large impact on trend GDP growth from public infrastructure investment.

The uncertainty around the future UK-EU trade relationship and its effect on the UK’s economy and public finances weighs on the rating. Negotiations on a trade deal have started but the two sides’ initial positions appear far apart. While the UK is seeking a deep free trade agreement (FTA) that allows it to diverge from EU rules, the EU’s starting position is to have the UK adopt EU rules as “reference points” and follow the evolution of those rules.

Given the divergent positions, little time available to strike a deal (December 2020) and the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis that will take priority, other scenarios are possible, including a trade “cliff-edge” with the UK exiting the transition period at end-2020 and reverting to WTO terms, which would be negative for long-term economic growth compared with an FTA. Alternatively, the transition period could be extended, but in our view this would not be straightforward. The government has ruled out any extension to the transition period and legislated for a commitment not to agree to any extension in the Withdrawal Agreement Act. The government is only able to reverse that provision through new legislation.

*  *  *

We suspect the Queen and the sick PM will not be amused…

Authored by Cassius K. via The Organic Prepper blog,

During difficult times, you’ll notice an emergence of conscience and courage in a lot of people. You might see people being willing to help others even when they are at risk themselves, acting courageously in conscience.

The coronavirus pandemic is no different. While you might see more coverage in the mainstream media about people fighting over toilet paper, here are 5 recent instances of kindness coming into play during the outbreak.

1. NJ Resident does grocery runs

Going from store to store collecting groceries for people in need, Bloomfield, New Jersey resident Abraham Dickerson is doing his part.

“Why did I start? Because I care,” the good Samaritan said. “I didn’t want to see anyone go hungry or possibly risk their life going to get food.”

Dickerson’s gesture means a lot to the people he is assisting.

An elderly woman named Barbara Brooks explained how Abraham helped her get groceries. Her residence is a tower where seniors live, and she has to deal with asthma. She was advised to be distant from others as much as possible.

“It means that someone cares,” she said. “I’m almost out of breath.”

A resident named Adeleri Onisegun noted “He’s not asking for anything, he’s not expecting anything, he’s not taking anything.”

2. Civilian prevents a shooting outside the grocery store

Even though many are warm and helpful, it must be expected that crime may rise.

When people battle over food or whatever it is outside the grocery store for example, and somebody pulls out a weapon and tries to strike the innocent, it might inspire a courageous reaction from bystanders.

It was a situation like this that recently transpired in Omaha, Nebraska.

A man entered an Omaha, Nebraska Hy-Vee store and started firing shots, when bystander Tom Wenzl tackled him and disabled the threat to everybody in the vicinity.

Customers were running out of the store, but he stayed and ducked down out of sight behind a counter. “I hunkered down – he was in five or six – I crouched and waited.  When he came through, that’s when I tackled him,” Wenzl explained.

He actually prevented a cop from having to take lethal action, because Omaha Police Deputy Police Chief Scott Gray said he was a “fraction of a second from shooting the guy,” as he also jumped into the altercation. That was after Wenzyl initially started trying to wrestle the gun away, with the first move.

3. “Take this.” $1000 handed to grocery store staff

At Darrell’s Market & Hardware in Aurelius Township, Michigan, employee Julie Huguelet was walking out the door after a long shift when a stranger handed her an envelope.

“Take this. Give $10 a day to each of your employees” he said, without giving his name or any more information.

Without opening the envelope, she took it to the owner of the store, Jared Browers. “There’s a thousand dollars cash in here,” Browers noted after opening it.

They explained the pace of business had “doubled” at the store and that traffic is like not like anything they’ve ever seen before, in the midst of this situation surrounding the pandemic. “A lot of us are getting to the point where we’re just exhausted,” said Huguelet. “We crash and go home and sleep, then come back.”

Store owner Jamie Robinson said the gift meant a lot.

Robinson said after a long week, many employees were in disbelief when they heard about the anonymous $1,000 donation.

“Is this for real?,” some asked her. “Did this really happen?”

“It was a pretty amazing thing,” Robinson said. “It really boosted the staff.”

“It’s just really going to be a nice reaffirmation of the work we do every day,” Browers said.

4. At the location of a fight, woman gifts toilet paper

A more negative story received publicity recently about people allegedly attacking each other with wine bottles at a Sam’s Club in Hiram, Georgia, in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area.

At this same store, WSBTV Atlanta explained: “A Paulding County woman shared a sweet story of strangers helping strangers during the coronavirus pandemic.”

Carol Burton Largent said that she went to Sam’s Club to get some toilet paper, something notoriously out of stock these days.

Largent asked a woman next to her when she pulled up at the store if there was any toilet paper left.

“I asked her if they had any toilet paper left and she said no, it was all gone. Then she proceeded to open her pack of toilet paper and gave me 24 rolls without even thinking about it,” she said.

Largent said she told the woman she didn’t have any cash.

“I don’t need your cash, God put you here for a reason,” Largent said the woman said.

5. Pandemic Partners do grocery runs

A Facebook group is emphasizing community power while maintaining respect for the need to be cautious of spreading illness.

A post in a group called Pandemic Partners Southern Oregon offered to visit the store for people who are over 60 years old, or suffer from a weakened immune system. Members of the community offering to visit stores for people in need, that’s surely a practice that we can look forward to continuing.

Another post in the group offered help to those suffering from illness by giving them bone broth, considered highly nutritious.

People in the group are offering handmade face masks to health care workers, posting job listings, food pantry availability, meals for kids and first responders, and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings to help their neighbors through a difficult time.

It’s a wonderful example of community spirit.

Bad times can also bring out the good in people.

In conclusion, you can rest assured that the result of everybody being in need, all at once, is not always universally this greedy, self-centered reaction. This reaction is something that the media may over-emphasize in the coming months, turning people against each other if they let it.

Reality can be quite the opposite: some people experience a surge of courage, associated with their conscience essentially, during a time like this. We have some survival instincts latent in us, that some people may have never even experienced an awakening of, ever in their lives.

It’s also important to remember that we, the citizens and people who live wherever we live, have the ultimate power to shape and determine our future. We can all help others in our communities, rather than make their lives more difficult or ignore their problems.

We’d all be well advised to shape our future with intent, rather than letting some other people or entity shape it for us. People can build their own culture, or the system can build it for them.

While there has been widespread chaos among Wall Street, with the coronavirus proving to some alpha male traders that they’re not as tough as they think there are, there has been one sliver of the street that has been making a score during the recent panic. 

Cash is coming in non-stop at J.P. Morgan’s equity derivatives unit, which has generated $1.5 billion in revenue so far this year, according to Bloomberg. That number equals almost all of what JPM reported from all equity market businesses in last year’s first quarter. It’s also about twice what the desk usually earns. 

The monster score for the desk highlights why investment banks have been rumored to keep employees coming in during the city’s lockdown. “Some members of the derivatives desk could still be seen sitting closely together inside the bank’s Manhattan offices late last week,” Bloomberg noted.

It also shows how large sums of revenue can shift wildly as a result of the overall economic turmoil. The top line boost from this division will likely help offset losses elsewhere. Bank stocks have taken a hit as lending margins are expected to fall due to lower rates. This will negatively impact other parts of J.P. Morgan’s business, like wealth management. 

J.P. Morgan has the largest share of the market for equity derivatives and as HFTs and hedge funds are strained to help make a market for these transactions due to the record-setting price swings, investment banks have been able to capture more market share. JPMorgan and Citigroup Inc. had together generated about $500 million in additional revenue by March. 

And despite scattered (pun intended) reports of J.P. Morgan employees defying social distancing guidelines, the company had previously said in a statement: “We have taken many precautions over the past several weeks to spread traders out within floors and across buildings, and from what we’ve seen they are adhering to social distancing guidance.”

Well, that certainly makes us feel better. And hey, if you’re one of the traders at J.P. Morgan literally putting your life on the line to help the investment bank boost its Q1 numbers, don’t let anyone tell you that you didn’t earn that bonus this year.

Authored by James Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,

Historians of the future, pan-roasting fresh-caught June bugs over their campfires, may wonder when, exactly, was the moment when the financial world broke with reality.

Was it when Nixon slammed the “gold window” shut?

When “maestro” Alan Greenspan first bamboozled a Senate finance committee?

When Pets.com face-planted 268 days after its IPO?

When Ben Bernanke declared the housing bubble “contained?”

If our reality is a world of human activity, then finance is now completely divorced from it for the obvious reason that, for now, there is no human activity. Everyone, except the doctors and nurses, and some government officials, is locked down. So, the only other thing actually still out there spinning its wheels is finance and, to those of us watching from solitary confinement, it is looking more and more like an IMAX-scale hallucination with Dolby sound.

How many mortals can even pretend to understand the transactions now taking place among treasury and banking officials? On their own terms ­­­– TALFs, Special Purpose Vehicles, Commercial Paper Funding Facilities, Repo Rescue Operations, “Helicopter Money” ­– stand as increasingly empty jargon phrases that signify increasingly futile efforts to paper over the essence of the situation: the world is bankrupt. It’s that simple.

The world is locked down and in hock up to its eyeballs. It faces what the bankers euphemistically call, ahem, a “work-out,” which is to say, a restructuring. The folks in charge are resisting that work-out with all their might, because it will change many of the conditions of everyday life (especially theirs), but it is coming anyway. When debt can’t be paid back, money vanishes. Money isn’t capital, but it represents capital when it is functioning. When it isn’t functioning, it stops being money. Now the whole world realizes that the debt can’t be paid back, will never be paid back… and that’s the jig that’s up.

The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet is the black hole in the financial universe where money goes to die. Money is rushing in there at a fantastic rate these days, and the Fed is trying to spew out new money at an equal rate to replace it ­– raising the question: is it even money anymore, or just a figment in the larger hallucination? Kind of seems that way, a little bit. They brought out their biggest money-launching bazookas only a few days ago, and it may only be few days more before that gigantic salvo proves inadequate. What then?

Perhaps the key is how long the ordinary folk agree to their orderly confinement, even in the face of the corona virus. That moment may be a bit further out, with the melodrama mounting especially in New York City right now, numbers of sick people going all hockey-stick, and frightful scenes in the hospitals. But then, whether it’s a week from now, or Easter Sunday, or sometime after that, what will the ordinary folk do when they decide en masse to de-confine and come roaring out in the streets?

I must imagine that one vignette will feature a mob of inflamed formerly middle-class Long Islanders swarming into the Hamptons with blood in their eyes for the hedge funders cringing in their majestic show-places, who will discover with maximum chagrin that privet hedge is no hedge at all against the wrath of the plebes.

There has never been a bigger swindle in history than the aggregate shenanigans on Wall Street lo these years of the new millennium, and we all know it, even if it’s hard to explain just how they did it. The money boyz should be taking a haircut-and-a-half now instead of wailing for bail-outs, but such is the perversity of human greed that they made one last desperate attempt to nail down their fortunes when everybody else was losing…everything.

You understand that banking and finance was headed firmly south long before coronavirus stole onto the scene. The tremors started back in September with the Fed jamming untold trillions into the black hole that had opened in overnight lending between banks. That was an infection, too, and boy did it spread — as fast as corona virus! This is indeed a most unfortunate convergence of events, but it should tell you that the banking and finance system, and the global economic arrangements that evolved with it, had already passed their event horizon. History had punched our ticket and was embarking us on a journey whether we were ready or not.

Is it a comfort to know that Joe Biden waits patiently on the sidelines to wave his aviator glasses and make everything normal again? I didn’t think so. Mr. Trump, for all the awe of his office, is not much better positioned to turn about the ship we’re now sailing on. Rough seas ahead, in uncharted waters, as we seek landfall in the next new world.