Tag: coronavirus
The price is wrong
Which freedoms will we get when we move to Level 2? Hopes of domestic tourism are rising. People want to travel and businesses want custom. Will they have to reduce prices which supposedly got too expensive when it was an international market?
Evidence in the face of belief
Some people are positive saints in these COVID times. The process of beatification is a long one, so they won’t likely become saints until they are dead. Beatification often seems to include belief without evidence, like what we believe about the economy.
Comparing lockdowns
Lockdowns have varied across the world in their severity. In some countries people can’t go further than 100m from their houses or exercise at all. As countries come out the other side of their infection curves restrictions are reducing, as in New Zealand. However, the USA has not yet got on top of COVID, not surprising given their variable approaches. But maybe they haven’t all swallowed bleach yet…
All we like sheep
Sheep – an important export from NZ, first for meat and coarse wool and now also for merino. And in COVID…we are expected to behave like sheep and herd well. Cultures vary in the ‘sheepishness’. How sheeply are New Zealanders?
A breath of fresh air
Where has the New Zealand COVID experiment got to in the last 5 weeks? In comparison to China, or Sweden, we’re looking pretty good. Which is why we are moving from Alert Level 4 to Level 3 for the next 2 weeks.
Money machines
To me, debt is the antithesis of of freedom. I have continued to believe this, despite the advice that the best way to create wealth is by borrowing money. Our government obviously believes in using quantitative easing to create honds worth $25B, around 1/8 of our 2019 GDP, which it will sell to the market.
Needing a drink of water
I would like to talk to some non-bubble members in person just like I wanted a glass of iced water while cycling through the desert in Tajikistan. Electronic communications just don’t seem to provide the same drinking experience.
Excess mortality
How many more people are dying because of COVID than would have died anyway? Would the majority of COVID deaths have occurred reasonably soon because the infected people were ill or elderly? How much resource do we put into people close to death? The point at which one is allowed to die rather than being treated is not discussed enough in society and needs more debate.
Dancing to the music
Business people are weighing in on what the government should do to fix the likely economic hole post COVID, including suggesting tourism by rich people and selling desirable sections at $5 million each. While ‘Hey Big Spender’ made me feel good today, I’m not sure it’s the answer to potential economic woes.