UNITED STATES─The Coronavirus pandemic has placed the economy at a complete standstill. People continue to compare what is taking place in 2020 to what happened in 2008 when the housing market crashed and I beg to differ. Why? We didn’t’ see a complete shutdown of massive businesses and most of the government people. Yes, the banks and auto industry needed bailouts and a lot of people lost their job, the price of gas was ridiculous ($5 a gallon) and it was tough, but now seems so much worse.
How so? Businesses are literally closed; people are not able to generate revenue. It was not a mandate in 2008 for companies to close; in 2020 it is a mandate unless you are an essential business. Being closed one day can really hurt a business, but imagine a week, two weeks, a month, six months? When that happens there is no question about it, the company is going to go out of business and people will be OUT of work as a result. I mean 16 million people have filed unemployment claims in the country in the past few weeks. Let me repeat that people, 16 million Americans have filed unemployment. That is crazy.
People are going to have to rely on unemployment income to survive and sustain during this trying time. Yes, the stimulus checks are coming out and being delivered to people’s bank accounts and checks in the mail. However, the government’s thinking process is misconstrued. I mean in 2008 most Americans received $300 to $600. Here, they’re receiving between $1200 to $3000; that is a major difference and can impact one’s finances in a major way. I honestly believe the government sending stimulus checks were for Americans to take those funds and spend them back in the economy. I mean who in the world would not want to blow $1200, but the reality is most of us don’t have the opportunity to do it. We’re struggling to pay bills; that $1200 is going to rent, utilities, and basic necessities. If lucky, you might blow $100 maybe $200 if you’re lucky, but I just think the money is already spent before it’s even received. I know in my case the money is already gone and it’s all going towards bills, the rest I’m placing into my savings account to try to stack more money.
Will the economy bounce back? Yes, I do believe it will take a lot of time, not what so many people are thinking. Businesses will open their doors, people will dine out, shop and spend money once they feel comfortable doing it. However, the problem will remain what businesses are willing to do to draw the customers back to the store? I mean they’re going to have to have massive sales or discounts to lure customers back, but at the same time they’ve lost so much revenue at this point, they have to generate that revenue back to sustain the company.
A few weeks ago it was a given to me that businesses would offer massive discounts, sales and anything possible to draw in customers, but knowing that these businesses are literally hanging by a thread they will not be able to offer too much of a discount or sale to sustain the business expenses that they have endured in recent weeks. They’re likely in the red and trying to get back in the black when no revenue is coming in is a dire task to say the least America.
Yes, many businesses have applied for the Paycheck Protection Loan handed out by the government, but the problem lies with the government not realizing the banks are being selective and picky who they award those funds too. For starters, I’ve already heard from so many businesses they were denied loans from the banks because they didn’t have an account with the bank or no credit cards on file for their business.
I know the government wants to help these businesses, but I think giving some of that control to the banks was a big mistake. They’re holding onto those funds and being very selective regarding who to deliver those funds to. They’re not trying to help businesses sustain during this difficult time. They’re thinking to themselves, “Hey, this is money we can keep to help us stay afloat.” I mean we already bailed the banks in 2008 and that didn’t assist many Americans people, especially when it came to applying for loans rather it was for a business, a car loan or a mortgage towards a house people.
I feel like we’re supposed to all be working in tandem to get everything to bounce back, but there are those solely thinking about themselves and not others during a time that is so unprecedented, unexpected and just unlike anything this country has ever dealt with in our lifetime.
Written By Zoe Mitchell
