tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post2086972783859676872..comments2024-03-28T04:08:45.199-05:00Comments on Bayou Renaissance Man: The COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping business and society as we know themPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-62373359630621849882020-10-17T22:25:02.308-05:002020-10-17T22:25:02.308-05:00Charles Hugh Smith is either working overtime at b...Charles Hugh Smith is either working overtime at being stupid, or he's passed the Rubicon, and is so stupid he really doesn't know what he doesn't know.<br />His comments on medical pricing rise to a level of ignorance normally reserved for Karl Deninger, or even Fred Reed, if not quite Shrillary Clinton, and that's saying something.<br /><br />You're being billed what you are not for the bare-bones cost of the item; you're paying for its prescription and administration by people with world-class skills, from the doctor to the pharmacist to the nurse. Do me a favor: tell the class what it costs to catch a fastball from Clayton Kershaw, and then try and tell me that WalMart sells baseballs for $5, or catch an Uber ride from Kevin Harvick, therefore the price is obviously too high, and see if you can spot the logic fail there.<br /><br />That's before we get into the fact that legal self-defense is factored into everything in medicine because of out-of-control jackpot lawsuits (you can't swing a dead cat without hitting 50 class-action bottom trawling law firms currently on every channel), nor the fact that, if you have insurance, you're also paying for 40M illegal aliens and 50 million indigent drunks and dope addicts who don't, every time you use it.<br /><br />But let him prove me wrong: he can show me how smart he and his acolytes are, and start staying home for everything, especially the bona fide emergencies, since in 20+ years, I can count the number of people who can actually tell the difference between those and the silly crap they run into the E.R. for on my thumbs.<br /><br />Yes, hospitals are hurting financially because they've lost a substantial amount of revenue from elective procedures.<br />All that proves is that economics works.Aesophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07834464741531503378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-34132588656171401502020-10-15T10:53:23.516-05:002020-10-15T10:53:23.516-05:00So the old "socialism for the rich, free ente...So the old "socialism for the rich, free enterprise for the poor" dichotomy is finally coming back to bite us. It couldn't last forever.<br />JackLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09947659402233775724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-16810306120410949972020-10-14T21:14:10.260-05:002020-10-14T21:14:10.260-05:00Some one recently remarked about the financializat...Some one recently remarked about the financialization of the economy. I have been contemplating that. What it means in this instance is that any bailout will only benefit the ultimate financier and highest shareholders of the business being bailed out. It is only a vehicle to keep the top 0.1% from losing any money.<br />This feels really cynical, but having watched the last few industry bailouts our government generated that only filtered <b>up</b>, I believe it justified. We need some changes in the way our economy is structured.Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16167146008575870564noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-59853252221190579512020-10-14T21:00:15.561-05:002020-10-14T21:00:15.561-05:00"Going bankrupt, losing your home, your busin..."Going bankrupt, losing your home, your business, decades of your sweat equity evaporating into thin air? Dude, you should have had six months of income and supplies squared away, sucx to be you. I'm fine, got my regular paycheck plus overtime plus hazard bonus working in a hospital. Plandemic's been good to me, long may it continue." --Some blogger in Southern California, perhaps.froginblenderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01534104165268993436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-58539712438251038552020-10-14T17:00:10.386-05:002020-10-14T17:00:10.386-05:00The money faucet is about to get cut off, then it ...The money faucet is about to get cut off, then it will get interesting to see what happens next!Old NFOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16404197287935017147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-59599841770678291932020-10-14T16:41:43.967-05:002020-10-14T16:41:43.967-05:00Both movie theaters and ordinary hotels are very l...Both movie theaters and ordinary hotels are very low-volume employers of part-time people. A theater will have 2, maybe 3, "full time" employees, but otherwise will have 6 or 8 who only work a few hours an evening, and those part timers are often young people still living at home, or retirees who have another income. <br /><br />Frequent travelers have grumbled for the past decade or more that hotel chains insist on importing foreign workers as maids instead of hiring locals, then giving those workers very few hours and pushing them to clean more rooms in less time. As a result: Bed bugs, which were extinct in America when I as young, are now a real problem. <br /><br />And the single-owner franchise hotels too often don't have any employees other than maybe a couple of desk clerks, instead preferring to have family members do much of the work. Many of these families are fastidious and take great pride in the hospitality of their home, so they are wonderful places to stay safely - but when it jobs to being part of the "jobs engine", they aren't employing enough people for any town to notice the absence.Tinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06049681622118832305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-52691670798145255572020-10-14T16:24:19.295-05:002020-10-14T16:24:19.295-05:00How many of those companies are in trouble because...How many of those companies are in trouble because of choices they made? For example, airlines were bouncing back pretty well until they colluded together to decide that ALL airlines would have draconian mask requirements with lifetime bans for violating them. I flew in April without problems and would again EXCEPT that I can't wear a mask for the length of a flight, and even if I could I wouldn't want to. They shot themselves in the foot with unreasonable rules and then want my money to pay the consequences!<br /><br />I haven't been in my local mall since June; at that point every store had a different mask/ face covering policy and some were really rude and arrogant about it - again, they are hurting themselves.<br /><br />These are yet more examples of economic damage from overreaction to what is for most people a minor illness. <br /><br />Around here, there are help wanted signs everywhere - some starting at 415 an hour. Friends who manage businesses told me that the end of the $600 a week unemployment supplement helped them get the workers they needed to stay open.<br /><br />Jonathan Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10476185257203343474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-44040438028256521632020-10-14T14:57:05.185-05:002020-10-14T14:57:05.185-05:00Musicians, bartenders, AV folks and all the other ...Musicians, bartenders, AV folks and all the other support people for the concert industry are still out of work as most of the venues are still looked down.<br /><br />Many of these folks assembled a living working 2 or 3 part times jobs before the pandemic hit.<br /><br />I read Broadway plans to remain closed until spring of 2021.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00564111374650870889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-30467505591229741892020-10-14T13:42:10.623-05:002020-10-14T13:42:10.623-05:00Big companies who want bail-out money receives it ...Big companies who want bail-out money receives it based on no executive whose salary was a million or more gets paid for 3 years while re-structuring the company back to solvency. Salary then comes back in sliding percentages over a 3 year plan. <br /><br />Son works for gov entity and has 49+ employees who recently voted on coming back to work in the office. Only 30% voted to return. He's perfectly fine if he never goes back into an office. <br /><br />I live in a small town and we've haven't had any restaurants close (don't have many other than chains)and when I was out last week I counted 11 help wanted signs. Not all were great jobs but some were in manufacturing. With Walmart paying $11 and max of 30 hours that's $1,430. per month. <br /><br />Had 1 peaceful demonstration back in May that lasted an hour. Everyone gathered at the end, shook hands and went home. <br /><br />So when I read the new, watch TV, read blogs I feel like I'm living in an alternate universe. squeeky's momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14280728218122440318noreply@blogger.com