All or Nothing!

The concept is made entertaining in a song composed by Arthur Altman in 1939 and was made famous in a rendition by Frank Sinatra. But a better understanding is provided by Merriam Webster, which defines all-or-nothing as risking everything, as well as accepting no less than everything. This is the position we find ourselves in today. By putting states in charge of coronavirus containment, we have essentially chosen to do nothing. The only way to stop this pandemic is the all of a federal mandate. Every country that has been successful in this effort has done so by means of governmental mandate. States that had the pandemic under control have been infected by travelers from states that don’t. It’s common sense, not brain surgery. We need the entire country to lock down for three weeks and appropriate testing.

People can complain about the economic impact, but the reality is that if we had done this in January, we’d have little to no unemployment, far less national debt and a far less ongoing concern for the virus’s damaging effects. Unfortunately, in the past six months, we still haven’t produced the necessary personal protective equipment and testing capabilities necessary. But St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard has issued a warning that a growing number of bankruptcies due to the COVID-19 outbreak “could lead to a financial crisis.” He went on to say that, “It’s probably prudent to keep our lending facilities in place for now, even though it’s true that liquidity has improved dramatically in financial markets.” Last March, the Fed cut rates to near zero, bought trillions of dollars worth of bonds and launched a slate of emergency lending tools to keep credit flowing.

Continuing down this path of “survival” only compounds the economic damage, making a recovery less likely and more difficult. Stating the obvious, the Bullard interview continued. “Even though we got past the initial wave of the March-April timeframe the disease is still quite capable of surprising us, “ he said. “Without more granular risk management on the part of the health policy, we could get a wave of substantial bankruptcies and [that] could feed into a financial crisis.” Soon after making these comments, a new spike of infections began to strike large U.S. states including California, Florida, Texas and Arizona, threatening to derail the nascent rebound from the initial pandemic shock, with many officials being forced to curtail and reverse reopening plans.

Without a federal lockdown mandate, we’re forced to wait for a vaccine or to develop herd immunity, either of which could directly result in the death of millions of Americans. Meanwhile, the stock market continues running up, on its road to oblivion, because like the government’s current COVID-19 response, the market has no supporting foundation, no justifiable motivation, and no opportunity for anything but a sudden and precipitous collapse. Protect your portfolio, assets and legacy with the time-tested protection of gold and other physical precious metals. Call the experts at American Bullion now, at (800) 653-GOLD (4653).

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