Fed now estimates that 47 million could be out of work with an unemployment rate of 32%.
LehighND asked in a thread I started, "What are we doing to ourselves?", what parameters would I consider that we need to be back open for business. I would say we can't afford to have millions businesses permanently folding and a 32% unemployment rate for a long period. Fortunately, James Bullard believes this will be short-lived, but who really knows? "Expert" predictions are often wrong.
Hopefully the Fed is wrong, but if they're not, hopefully Bullard isn't. But we do need to ask a question: How bad should the country be damaged in fighting this? For those who believe as many lives as possible should be saved at all costs, why? We already decided losing 30,000-60,000 to flu every year is acceptable. We could save probably most of those lives if we shut down the country for a month every year. Are those lives not worth it? This is obviously a more philosophical question, but the fact is, we already put a value on human life.
Link: CNBC article