The positives of the corona virus

[Doubletrouble99]

Can you think of any?
Mine are mainly to do with climate change and reducing our carbon foot print.
So fewer going on cruises and flying would be great for the planet.
Less reliance of far eastern goods would also be great.

Tory voting demographic means greater chance of a labour govt next time.

Well I suppose loo roll manufacturers are making a lot of money. So that's good for them.

Also, population reduction, lowered emissions, might alleviate pensions crisis. Trump is high risk...

LittleRootie, I am not in the least confused. National debt. has gone up about 10% of GDP over the last 10 years but has actually gone down since a peak in 2014/15. The actual sum is large but what you have to look at is that GDP has also gone up too so it's all relative. If we had continued on the trajectory that the labour party were going at can you imagine where we would be now.
The point is government borrowing last year was only 1.5% which is well under the 3% which is recommended countries keep below. Yes we are over the recommended 60% for National debt but we were over it in 2010 and analysts say that 85% is quite manageable.
What exactly would you suggest the government do to reduce national debt if austerity is such a big no no?

In the Netherlands people have suddenly learned how to wash their hands. The Dutch don't normally bother . Maybe next we'll get hot water in toilets when they all discover how miserable cold water is in the winter (having never previously washed their hands to find out!)

Mintjulia - I like your thinking re home working and freeing up office and car park spaces. Also it will show bosses what can be done. I really feel that most of the advantages will hopefully be to speed up environmental improvements and reduce our carbon foot print by reducing the amount of travel.

Tory voting demographic means greater chance of a labour govt next time

That's very naughty of you Mistymonday..

This new attitude to the extreme level of debt lots of countries are in reminds me of the bubble before the financial crisis. No-one wants to say that the foundations are rocky because everyone is enjoying the bubble. Governments are in (public) denial because they need to keep spending to keep the electorate on-side, and they kick the can down the road for the next generation to pay. Totally irresponsible. And now there’s no gold reserves to balance the debt, it’s all built on belief. I find it really shocking and people should be a lot more worried about this.

I had a strong feeling for a few years before the last crisis that you couldn’t keep lending to people without taking care that they could pay it back, and I have that same feeling now.

Well I suppose loo roll manufacturers are making a lot of money. So that's good for them.

I don't think they will. People aren't going to be using more of it so just won't need to buy it for a while.

But Snowy the UK government are not 'keeping spending' at all. That's not what is happening in the UK. Now if the Labour party were in power! then that would be an entirely different story and you would be able to say what you have said with utter conviction as that's exactly what they would have done for the last 10 years and we would have been paying for it mightily now as they 'kicked the can down the road'. I for one sure would be worried if a different party was in government. I certainly don't see any indiscriminate lending as we did before the last crash, where do you get that idea?

I’m saying that we have an economy built on debt. We are still borrowing more year on year just to pay for public services and state pensions etc.

The debt interest is more than the defence budget. The debt is almost 2 trillion, not including pension fund debt and other liabilities. The tories under Osborne and Hammond were trying to reduce the deficit first to get us in a position to start to reduce the debt. There has been little investment in infrastructure after years of austerity and huge underfunding of public services, as that was the Tory way to balance the books. Despite the continued borrowing public services are decimated.

Now it seems all that austerity will go out of the window. First May, then Johnson needed to spend on election bribes and brexit.

What if we now had a national crisis that caused a huge reduction in GDP where would we be then???

I’m saying that the UK economy, like many others around the world, is not in a good robust place, despite what our new chancellor will be telling us this week.

It has become the new mantra to say that the debt doesn’t matter (after all, as a percentage of GDP it is still lower than it was after the two world wars). This view reminds me of the bubble of denial around the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

What exactly would you suggest the government do to reduce national debt if austerity is such a big no no?

I would prefer to see higher taxation-fairer taxation, and more support and promotion of smaller business to generate wealth for starters

The one positive is that hopefully it will encourage better hygiene in the country as people wash their hands more. Fingers crossed!

Not having to do anything or see anyone for two weeks. Bliss.

Downside, work are forcing a laptop on me but at least I can work from my sofa in a tracksuit and go full Little Britain 😂

1. The realisation that 'herd' health is more important than individual health where infectious diseases are concerned, and consequently increased or improved provision of health services which are free at the point of use. We can expect to see more and more novel infectious diseases as unknown viruses and bacteria are let loose because of climate change.

1. Increased awareness of the importance of good hygiene. The lessons learned by the Victorians will be re-learnt by us.

1. Going forward, I'd hope to see at least some countries experimenting with a Universal Basic Income - as this is effectively what will be introduced in areas worst affected.

1. If only for a short time, it will break the cycle of over-consumption (toilet paper notwithstanding ) and unnecessary travel. Time to rethink the way we live.

People will see how much childcare services are contributing to the workforce. By allowing parents to work.

We're just moving this over to the right topic now.

On the plus side I get two weeks off to lounge around at home finishing all those jobs that need doing.

Can't think of anything else as I've had to resort to water now toilet rolls are no longer avaiable in the local shop.

Must admit I appreciate the fall in prices of petrol & heating oil....

I went on TV. I had to do media interviews which is all a bit nuts but I have coped which I think I can congratulate myself for.

Experts are in vogue, suddenly. I don't actually find the fickle public re-embracement reassuring, but ho hum. Vaccinations are "cool" again.

As an older adult I'm glad that older adults are more vulnerable. An epidemic that especially hurt children would upset me more.

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Staying safe from the Coronavirus. "Practice social isolation" Finally a disease for introverts. Am I right or am I right?

This is good, too.

Hopefully it might be the end of HS2 after all?

Why would you want HS2 to be cancelled if it will provide masses of jobs, when at the end of this crisis they will be acutely needed.

YeOldeTrout I read on BBC news today that people in Italy are still allowed out to walk their dogs. So stir crazy people are borrowing dogs for walks and now all the dogs are permanently exhausted My dog would hate that.