In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, everyone should read Robert Higgs' economic classic "Crisis and Leviathan." The critical warning of this masterpiece is that government always uses a crisis -- from the Civil War to the Great Depression to World War II -- to expand power, not only during the emergency but also afterward. Emergencies tend to ratchet up the cost and power of government permanently.
"We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself," tweeted the president on Sunday night, adding that, after the current 15-day shutdown, "we will make a decision as to which way we want to go."
Forty percent (40%) of Likely U.S. Voters think the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey for the week ending March 19, 2020.
Voters are closely divided over how the government has responded so far to the coronavirus threat, but, even in a time of national emergency, it appears that party affiliation overrides all.
It's the end of the world as we know it, and the banks and airlines feel fine because even in the midst of economic collapse, CEOs can sleep soundly at night, secure in the knowledge that the American taxpayer will bail them out. Again.
In surveys last week, this is what America told Rasmussen Reports...
A sizable majority of Americans plan to spend most of their time at home in the weeks ahead in response to the coronavirus threat, but many will continue to go to the office.
Precedent doesn't provide much guidance. There's a deadly coronavirus threatening to circulate through the population. The resulting government orders and social sanctions of self-distancing and self-isolating behavior are unprecedented in living memory.
"It's a war," says President Donald Trump of his efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic, and likening his role to that of "wartime president."
Americans plan to continue to grocery shop in the face of the coronavirus threat, and most aren’t worried that food and other necessary items will become hard to find.
One-in-four voters are prepared already to postpone the November presidential election – for the first time in U.S. history - if the coronavirus threat continues. Support is much higher for delaying upcoming primaries.
— The coronavirus public health crisis likely will lead to an economic downturn of unknown length and severity.
— Historically, second-quarter GDP growth in the election year is an important variable in predicting how an incumbent president will perform in the fall.
— A recession could seriously damage President Donald Trump’s reelection chances.
— However, we are in truly uncharted territory, and it’s unclear how the public will respond electorally to an economic downturn forced by a pandemic.
Americans strongly support the government’s travel bans and school closings in response to the coronavirus threat, but one-in-four think panic, not reason, is driving some decisions.
No. No. No. No. No. The answer from the American people across the political spectrum to the airline industry's plea for a $50 billion taxpayer-subsidized bailout in the Age of WuFlu must be "Hell, no!" times 50 billion.
The Rasmussen Reports Immigration Index for the week of March 8-12, 2020 has edged back up to 101.1, from 100.3 the week before.
Given China’s silence and secrecy about the outbreak of the coronavirus virus, a sizable number of voters here think the Asian giant needs to pay up for some of the losses the virus has caused. But there’s little war talk so far.
It was just a little over 10 years ago, at the height of the 2008-2009 financial crisis, that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said one of the dumbest things in modern times. The best way to stimulate the economy, she declared, was with "unemployment insurance and food stamps." Right. Paying people not to work will get more people to work.
"The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our life-time," said Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey to a friend on the eve of Britain's entry into the First World War.
Forty-two percent (42%) of Likely U.S. Voters think the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey for the week ending March 12, 2020.
