The numbers are staggering. On May 7, 2,231 Americans died of the disease Covid-19, bringing the total number of deaths in the United States to 75,662, and more than 270,000 worldwide.
The economic effects have been nothing short of American carnage. At the end of April the US Congressional Budget Office hinted that the second quarter of 2020 would see the first drop in the US Gross Domestic Product in six years, and the worst since 2008. Since March, 33.5 million people have filed for unemployment. Companies large and small are going to disappear, along with millions of jobs. Consumer spending, business investment, manufacturing—everything is in freefall, and it’s not likely to get better until 2021, even if the pandemic eases and doesn’t snap back with a second wave. (Pandemics tend to snap back with second waves—especially when social distancing ends too soon.)
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