How To Recession-Proof The Economy

With the coronavirus now officially a pandemic, and the stock market in freefall, recession (if not depression) fears are rapidly mounting.  But what if we were to tell you that not only depressions, but also nearly all recessions, are fully preventable?

Sounds crazy, but keep in mind that before John Maynard Keynes and his groundbreaking economic policies came on the scene, depressions were once a regular occurrence in the USA and globally.  Since 1945, we have not had a single full-blown depression, though we have come very close many times.  And even the Great Recession was a near-depression due to not being Keynesian enough, and implementing unnecessary austerity.  Thus, the next logical step would be to do the same for recessions, and use the power of federal Monetary Sovereignty to prevent them before they start.  Yes, we really can do that.

Almost every recession or depression is fundamentally caused by a shortage of money.  That is a proven historical fact.  So the solution is to make sure the money supply (via federal "deficit" spending as well as monetary policy) grows fast enough to keep up with and allow for a growing economy, and make up for shortfalls caused by any contractions in business activity due to internal or external shocks.

So what to do this time around?  For starters:

• As a stimulus, give everyone at least $1000 cash immediately, no strings attached.  Repeat a few months later if necessary.
• Implement paid sick leave and paid family leave, yesterday.  For ALL workers.
• Provide emergency cash to businesses struggling due to the pandemic.
• Put a moratorium on all evictions and foreclosures during the pandemic.
• Do NOT make any cuts to healthcare, food stamps, unemployment benefits, or any other parts of the social spending budget.  Instead, expand them, yesterday.
• Invest massively in free testing for coronavirus, and in research and development for treatment and a vaccine for this virus.
• Resolve shortages by using federal funds to actively incentivize production of any essentials that are in short supply.

Longer-term, implement Rodger Malcolm Mitchell's Ten Steps to Prosperity, starting with abolishing FICA, implementing Medicare For All, and implementing Universal Basic Income for all.  All of which would be paid for by new federal money creation.  Talk about priming the pump!

We have a choice, so let's make the right one.  Whether it's recession or disease (or both in this case), the old adage certainly applies:  an ounce of prevention is worth at least a pound of cure. 

The Crash Of 2020 Has A Silver Lining

Looks like the long-overdue Crash of 2020 is finally here, with the novel coronavirus panic being the catalyst that finally popped the truly massive stock market bubble--scratch that, BOIL--that was several years in the making.  And there does not appear to be a firm bottom in sight yet.  And shhhh!--don't even talk about the even bigger derivatives bubble yet.  In other words, this can get real ugly real fast!

(And not even the FERAL Reserve can delay the inevitable for much longer, it seems.)

But as bad as it gets, better that it should happen several months before the 2020 presidential election rather than after.  A big crash and/or recession before the election would virtually guarantee Trump's defeat, and by extension (hopefully) Bernie's victory.  And so would finally mark the end of America's 40 year failed experiment with neoliberalism, that was started by Reagan and self-destructed by Trump.  Bookended by two unlikely "dark horse" yet celebrity candidates, Reagan and Trump, that both cut their teeth in Hollywood before entering politics late in life, and who both said they would "Make America Great Again" (right!), this will be the end of an era--or more accurately, the end of an ERROR on January 20, 2021.  Then we can finally pick up where we left off in 1980 when Carter almost won re-election but for the Reagan campaign's October Surprise dirty tricks (a conspiracy theory that actually turned out to be true, by the way).  Yes, you read that correctly.

And thus, America's long, dark night of the soul will finally be over.  Not just the past four years, but the past 40 as well.  That is, of course, only if enough Americans actually get off their butts and VOTE--not just in the general election, but also in the primaries as well.  The basket of deplorables will sure as hell vote regardless, so all progressives and even the fence-sitters need to get out and vote as well.