I regret to inform you, as I wrote previously, that we’re never going “back to normal.”
The world After COVID will not be like the world Before COVID.
It’s very important to understand what lies ahead so we can prepare for it.
Two reasons that the world After COVID will be so different are problems with the economy and the supply chain. Let’s take a look at both and see where we’re headed.
The After-COVID economy for businesses
The government stepped in fairly quickly after lockdowns began to approve a massive number of small business loans. These loans were to be distributed by the institution with which the small business does their banking.
Unfortunately, the outcome would be laughable if it wasn’t so tragic.
Here’s an example: Chase Bank gaveRuth’s Chris Steak House a $20 million forgivable loan meant for small businesses by dividing it up by locations instead of treating the company like the large corporation that it is. Incidentally, Chase “earned” $100K for processing the loan. After everyone rightly lost their marbles over this, Ruth’s Chris is returning the 20 mill. Chase and Ruth’s Chris aren’t the only culprits. There were all sorts of shenanigans that meant the fund ran out of money before the legitimate small businesses could even complete their applications. For example, big banks earned ten billion dollars in fees for processing the loans and here’s a list of big companies that played around with this system and drained it of millions.
Another round of small business loans has been approved by Congress but I’m not really holding my breath that any of this will happen in the way we’ve been told it will.
So to summarize, a lot of the small businesses who need the money to survive haven’t gotten it yet and may never get it, but big banks and big businesses are sitting pretty with the help of their cronies in Congress. It isn’t a stretch of the imagination to say that the longer a small business stays closed, paying their expenses and holding inventory while not being able to earn income, the less likely they are to reopen successfully (or at all) once the all-clear is given.
And if they can’t reopen? All those folks they used to employ will be out of a job.
The After-COVID economy for individuals
The government stepped in fairly quickly after lockdowns began to approve a massive number of small business loans. These loans were to be distributed by the institution with which the small business does their banking.
Unfortunately, the outcome would be laughable if it wasn’t so tragic.
Here’s an example: Chase Bank gaveRuth’s Chris Steak House a $20 million forgivable loan meant for small businesses by dividing it up by locations instead of treating the company like the large corporation that it is. Incidentally, Chase “earned” $100K for processing the loan. After everyone rightly lost their marbles over this, Ruth’s Chris is returning the 20 mill. Chase and Ruth’s Chris aren’t the only culprits. There were all sorts of shenanigans that meant the fund ran out of money before the legitimate small businesses could even complete their applications. For example, big banks earned ten billion dollars in fees for processing the loans and here’s a list of big companies that played around with this system and drained it of millions.
Another round of small business loans has been approved by Congress but I’m not really holding my breath that any of this will happen in the way we’ve been told it will.
So to summarize, a lot of the small businesses who need the money to survive haven’t gotten it yet and may never get it, but big banks and big businesses are sitting pretty with the help of their cronies in Congress. It isn’t a stretch of the imagination to say that the longer a small business stays closed, paying their expenses and holding inventory while not being able to earn income, the less likely they are to reopen successfully (or at all) once the all-clear is given.
And if they can’t reopen? All those folks they used to employ will be out of a job.
The After-COVID economy for individuals
Chase isn't really "servicing" the loans, they're selling them on commission, first to favored customers.
ReplyDeleteStep on in taking control of this nonsense... move your money from Chase, BofA, Wells, etc to local and regional banks. Bill banks don’t give a rats a$$ about you or your community. Local and regional banks keep money churning through local economies! Then, buy AMERICAN!
ReplyDeleteThe government could have given out the money without the banks profiting by $10Billion.
ReplyDeleteDitto for the currency: The Treasury could print (type numbers into an account) US Dollars and spend it into the economy. But instead, the Treasury "sells a US Bond" to the Fed Bank who prints (types numbers into an account) and gives the US Dollars to the Treasury.
Why?
In 1913 the international illuminati bankers gained control of the White House (Wilson) by blackmailing Woodrow Wilson into illegally passing the Federal Reserve Act during the Christmas Holiday.