Denninger: Bye-Bye TEACHERS, COPS And Government P
Post# of 27046
By Karl Denninger
2020-05-15 08:47
To all the screaming Karens: You've fired a few million workers and some of them even include you.
Retail sales for April were 22% below last year's figures. https://tinyurl.com/zqon96p
No stores open, no bars and restaurants open, nobody actually spending money. "Oh, you can order out." Uh huh. The volume of business collapsed anyway.
That means no tax receipts. No sales taxes.
It means commercial property, which has property taxation at much higher rates than residences, is now worthless.
This is not limited to restaurants and bars; it also applies to office buildings since everyone is being told to not come into the office but "work from home." Firms have figured out that it's not worth paying that crazy-high rent for the nice building, which means what you did is permanent.
Retailers are not coming back -- well, they might reopen long enough for their going out of business sale and the tax revenue destruction you caused with your screaming and crying is permanent.
Got a government pension? It's not going to be paid.
Got a government job? You're at high risk of being fired or having your pay cut dramatically.
Are you a teacher? You demanded the schools close, so there's no need for teachers. Or janitors. Or lunch room employees. Or Principals, Vice-Principals, school nurses, "Special" folks for kids with "special needs" and similar. Fire them all, sell the school property off and that's that.
Will it be better in May? Maybe. Will people come back if you can't actually sit at the bar and carouse with the other people there? I have no idea -- but as of right now, and May is half over, while I can go to food and drink places around here I still can't sit at the bar and like it or not, people won't come back in volume until and unless they can. Not one restaurant or bar can survive without being permitted to run at 100% occupancy.
NOT ONE.
Nor have the layoffs and firings stopped. That much is clear from the weekly data; it was not a "one time" thing at all and in fact continues week by week, even though some states are partially opening back up! The damage the screamers did is permanent and continuing.
Oh, and then there are these pesky facts -- none of the places that have reopened have seen a "surge" in infections and deaths. Neither did Sweden, which not only didn't close schools they didn't lock down either, and they also did a crap job of protecting nursing home residents. In other words the facts are that the lockdowns did nothing, we destroyed the economy for no purpose, and that is no longer a belief based on expectations from science -- it is now a proved fact.
What I also know is that if you're a screaming Karen you've slit your own throat and when you wind up broke and under a freeway overpass holding a piece of cardboard begging for food I hope there's a puddle nearby to drive through.
https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=239307