The containment and mitigation of the c-virus necessitates the workforce de-linking from work, while a functioning economy requires the opposite, that is, dynamic integration and close connections at the local, state, national, and global level. In the face of this contradiction, priority obviously goes to the former. Meanwhile, the mitigation of a contracting economy requires immediately a generous package of social insurance —- in other words, workers and their families should be paid in full to stay home — and other counter cyclical measures. To the credit of Nancy Pelosi, the House bill takes a big step in the provision of social insurance. And were it not for the Republicans, it would have been more generous. More funding, however, will be needed to meet the expanding scope of this crisis, which like all crisis hit unevenly. In other words, this interlocking crisis falls heaviest on people of color, women, and low income workers.
Will the c-virus cause a recession? The economy will contract for sure even with counter cyclical measures and the provision of generous social insurance for working families and others reeling under the weight of this pandemic. But whether this contraction morphs into a full blown recession at the national and global level depends to a large extent on how effective national governments and international institutions are in simultaneously combating the pandemic and a contracting economy. Because our government — the most powerful and well endowed in the world — is led by an ignorant, dangerous, and America First narcissist and his team of dopes, it will make this difficult job all the more harder.
Joe Biden is a safe choice for many people, but we should also bear in mind that the moderate lane in the Democratic presidential primary from the very beginning commanded more support from voters than the progressive-radical wing. A radical politics has to be fact based as well as radical.
In attacking PBS reporter Yamiche Alcindor, Trump reveals once again the depth of his racism and sexism. When the two intersect as they did here, it is ugly. Alcindor is a terrific and intrepid reporter. I hope her colleagues expressed their solidarity to her and objected to this nasty attack.
We should be realists. Biden is surging and will continue to do so. Bernie, on the other hand, has no path to the nomination. If last week’s primary results didn’t convince us of this, then next week’s should. The principal task at this moment and over the next few months is to “begin” a process of unifying the Democratic Party and the anti-Trump coalition.
