There are about 40 million people in the workforce who are susceptible to COVID 19 by either being over 50 years old or having a preexisting medical condition. We should give each of them 1 million dollars to retire, subject to the following restrictions:My reply was that this was stupid, and anyone who endorsed it obviously didn't understand basic mathematics or economics. First, it would cost 40 TRILLION dollars to pay those 40 million people a million each. Second, there are only 15 trillion dollars in existence, so this payment would be more money than actually exists.
1 They can no longer work.
2 They must buy an American car
3 They must buy a house cash or pay the mortgage off for whatever house they already own.
This would fix everything by allowing people to return to work and simultaneously fix the labor force by eliminating debt and unemployment.
I was laughed at and called ridiculous. The people who called me ridiculous fell into two camps:
1 Paying 40 million people a million dollars each would only cost 40 billion dollars, less than the cost of an aircraft carrier.
2 There is no limit to the number of dollars that exist. You just add it to bank accounts on the computer, it isn't like they actually have to PRINT the money in today's day and age.
Sigh. I left the discussion. I just don't have time to explain the ways that they are wrong.
2 comments:
It's about reference. Take their milk, start adding water, and see when they realize there isn't much milk. Of course, that takes a step using logic to see it's the same as printing money, and they wouldn't know logic if it bit them on the leg.
They have AOC, Bernie Sanders and a thousand other politicians telling them that money can be created with no consequence. How could they not believe it?
The basic math that can't tell a billion from a trillion is exactly the level most of those politicians think at.
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