Persistent Pandemic
It’s been a while since the pandemic began. However, its effects are still present in many industries in economic metrics. Beyond just these visible effects though, is a psychological shift within Americans; changing the economy for better or for worse. It all began when, back in 2020, the government issued around 472 million payments totaling about $803 billion in the form of stimulus checks. This financial effort enabled households to sustain themselves as Covid-19 shattered the U.S. economy. The tradeoff, however, was inflation. Some may argue that inflation has more to do with external factors that cause supply chain shortages, which isn’t false either, but we must look at inflation from a much broader scale as something that started when COVID began. Indeed, the prices of everything from gas to groceries have risen significantly, and the stimulus checks and financial assistance provided to Americans during COVID is a part of it.
Some believe that COVID itself is not really over. One professional with this belief is White House’s COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha, who has a theory about why even after two years, the Covid-19 pandemic still isn’t over. According to Jha, although scientists and public health officials have mostly nailed the medical response to the pandemic: pushing out a functional vaccine in sufficient quantity, the US has been inconsistent in its social response. What this means is that people are still hesitant to trust the actual vaccination as a trustworthy treatment. The reason for this seems to be rooted in social media and uncontrolled false information.
What do you think about this extended pandemic theory? And will it ever end?
I am not a financial advisor and my comments should never be taken as financial advice. Investments come with risk, so always do your research and analysis beforehand.
