Article

2020-04-15 Economy

Conrad Black: "All lives are equal, but the demise of an 80+ year old is not economically or strategically equivalent to the ruination of the careers + lives of 1000 in their prime, and we all know it."

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Posted by Lex 2020-04-15 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11130 views ] Top

#1 I said a day or two ago - 16 million unemployed, less than 1,600 dead. That's 10,000 unemployed for every dead person.

I'm not sure what that means, but I wish both numbers were lower...

Posted by Bobby 2020-04-15 00:57|| 2020-04-15 00:57|| Front Page Top

#2 Reading the article, the author uses 1,000 per death. Somebody check the math!

Posted by Bobby 2020-04-15 01:03|| 2020-04-15 01:03|| Front Page Top

#3 Yea, well Conrad, USA is (hopefully) switching back from service to manufacturing economy - lots of brilliant careers will be ruined.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2020-04-15 03:59|| 2020-04-15 03:59|| Front Page Top

#4 I am not sure comparing the number of unemployed to the number dead is a good ratio. The number of unemployed compared to number of lives saved would be a much better ratio of effectiveness but then the number saved is a swag/guess/lie..

Posted by Airandee 2020-04-15 05:14|| 2020-04-15 05:14|| Front Page Top

#5 ^One of the positive outcomes of the Wuhan Corona crisis is (IMO) that we're discovering what "Libertarians" as just as prone to cherry picking facts and exaggeration as anybody else in the political spectrum.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2020-04-15 05:21|| 2020-04-15 05:21|| Front Page Top

#6 what if the 80+ year old death is George Soros? Lots of media ruination results from that.

Posted by Bob Grorong1136 2020-04-15 07:34|| 2020-04-15 07:34|| Front Page Top

#7 Old people dying is NOT as important as destroying the economy. In no possible way are 80 year old people as important to the world as young people.

We need to open back up. Just because people are dying does not mean that purposefully destroying the economy and eliminating our civil liberties is a good idea. Freedom is not a meaningless concept. And frankly, whether that means young or old people dying, destroying the country is what "shelter in place" is going to do, and it is not worth keeping in place.

Posted by Vernal Hatrick 2020-04-15 08:49|| 2020-04-15 08:49|| Front Page Top

#8 Old people dying is NOT as important as destroying the economy. In no possible way are 80 year old people as important to the world as young people.

That's right VH.
Old people leave estates to the young people.
Old people pay estate taxes to the Feds.
Old people surrender homes to their children.
Old people are a service platform for the home health industry.

Dead old people don't care about the economy, only live ones.

Posted by Skidmark 2020-04-15 10:55|| 2020-04-15 10:55|| Front Page Top

#9 Regarding the number of dead. We have to factor in how many people would have died from the Flu that did not because of social distancing. Also car accidents and other factors are likely down a lot.

On the reverse side suicide rates are probably much higher than normal.

They won't really settle the numbers of years and by then everyone will have moved on believing we did what we had to do with the info we had. and will be reluctant to admit over-reaction because they like the control and don't want to minimize the reaction in the future if a really bad pandemic does hit.

Posted by rjschwarz 2020-04-15 10:55|| 2020-04-15 10:55|| Front Page Top

#10 AND they're easier to mug, eh VH.

Shocking CCTV shows moment mugger drags pensioner in her 80s to the ground as he snatches her handbag on the street

Posted by Skidmark 2020-04-15 11:39|| 2020-04-15 11:39|| Front Page Top

#11 Let the children die.

NYC pediatrician issues grim warning that 80 per cent of children in the city are infected with COVID- 19 but claims lack of testing doesn't make them a priority to get medical assistance

Posted by Skidmark 2020-04-15 11:50|| 2020-04-15 11:50|| Front Page Top

#12 People are only getting tested if they're symptomatic. Why should kids be any different?

Posted by Rob Crawford 2020-04-15 12:22|| 2020-04-15 12:22|| Front Page Top

#13 Let's see...
They suck resources for 20 years.
They carry disease like rats.
They are rude, ignorant, noisy and dangerous.
They hunt in packs.
They may be asymptomatic carriers...

Posted by Skidmark 2020-04-15 12:54|| 2020-04-15 12:54|| Front Page Top

#14 I beg to differ, old people don’t hunt in packs. At least, not yet.

Posted by KBK 2020-04-15 15:01|| 2020-04-15 15:01|| Front Page Top

#15 I beg to differ, old people don’t hunt in packs. At least, not yet.

Posted by KBK 2020-04-15 15:02|| 2020-04-15 15:02|| Front Page Top

#16 ^I think he was talking about kids.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2020-04-15 15:08|| 2020-04-15 15:08|| Front Page Top

#17 old people don’t hunt in packs. At least, not yet.

There is a saying about how old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill. Maybe what you are seeing are just the scouts.

Posted by SteveS 2020-04-15 15:11|| 2020-04-15 15:11|| Front Page Top

#18 Eventually we will ALL start hunting in packs if we don't start opening up the economy again within the next 6-8 weeks.

We need some degree of judicious, smart, selective balance. It isn't either-or. You cannot save lives by killing the economy. There is no life without economic activity.

Posted by Lex 2020-04-15 15:40|| 2020-04-15 15:40|| Front Page Top

#19 This has all been bullshit for weeks. We should have treated New York and New Orleans and a hanful of other places as the exceptions that they were and thrown the switch back to the "On" position for the rest of the country. This has all been one giant power play for petty governors and mayors and assorted other hacks.

Posted by Crusader 2020-04-15 18:39|| 2020-04-15 18:39|| Front Page Top

#20 I am not quite sure the people who are criticizing (mocking?) my point are coming from. None of you made any cogent points. The economy needs to be opened. And old people are not as important as young people. You want to know how I know that? Because A SEVENTY YEAR OLD CAN LIVE FOR A MAXIMUM FOR FORTY-FIVE YEARS, WHILE A TWENTY-FIVE YEAR OLD CAN LIVE FOR A MAXIMUM OF NINETY YEARS. Even if we magically believe that the years between 70 and 115 are entirely productive and equal to the forty-five years prior (or even equally likely to occur, neither of which are true), that leaves young people with twice as much potential. You don't like it? Too bad.

Posted by Vernal Hatrick 2020-04-15 19:58|| 2020-04-15 19:58|| Front Page Top

#21 Vernal Hatrick? You first, and no, I'm not in 70 - 115 range

Posted by Frank G 2020-04-15 20:13|| 2020-04-15 20:13|| Front Page Top

#22 Think about all the 50-60 year olds who are the most senior people at important companies. Each of them has 30+ years of experience and has risen in their chosen field. You gonna replace those people with f&*king Millennials? If we really did lose a meaningful number of "old" people we would be f*&ked.

Posted by Iblis 2020-04-15 20:19|| 2020-04-15 20:19|| Front Page Top

#23 Old people don’t need to hunt in packs so long as the Social Security checks keep coming every month.

Posted by trailing wife 2020-04-15 20:36|| 2020-04-15 20:36|| Front Page Top

#24 Somebody's never been hit with a mobility scooter.

Posted by Skidmark 2020-04-15 22:46|| 2020-04-15 22:46|| Front Page Top

23:56 ruprecht
23:52 JohnQC
23:36 JohnQC
22:46 Skidmark
22:09 magpie
22:05 Besoeker
20:51 Lex
20:51 JHH
20:48 Lex
20:46 Lex
20:43 Sock Puppet of Doom
20:40 Lex
20:36 trailing wife
20:29 trailing wife
20:23 Ebbereper Munster6449
20:22 trailing wife
20:19 Iblis
20:13 trailing wife
20:13 Frank G
20:04 trailing wife
19:58 Vernal Hatrick
19:21 Clem
19:15 Woodrow
19:03 Lex