My Kingdom for a Leader

Not quite a week ago I mused about our ship of state sailing in uncharted waters while led  by an individual who is surrounded by sycophants and ideologues selected for their dedication to a leader who places absolute loyalty above facts and the truth. 

I speculated upon the notion that the market is telling us that our president instills an inadequate sense of security during a time of uncertainty.  The commander-in-chief was all too happy to own the market’s peaks over the last few years.  Now he casts-about and blames others.  It's a hoax. The ship is foundering on economic rocks.  Sycophants tremble at the prospect of being the messenger of bad news.  The truth hurts.  

I suggested that the president needs to step-up his game now that things have gotten unglued and before they spin out of control.  In the intervening six days Pence and Mnuchin have been sent as fall guys errand boys to message a sketchy and haphazard coronavirus testing protocol and to negotiate a bail-out for an economy that looks more every day like it's getting a toilet swirly.

Sunday we cancelled two vacations as a consequence of all of the closures of parks, museums, historic sites, restaurants, bars and more. This, combined with many states closing schools and exacerbated by the sluggish response from the Trump administration on both the aforementioned testing and fiscal stimulus has led me to conclude that there’s no way what was seemingly a ‘bullet-proof’ economy can weather the current economic crash dive.

This shit storm is every bit as bad - and possibly worse - than the madness following the events of 9/11.  Yesterday I concluded we had tipped into a recession. 

Goldman Sachs announced this morning that they had arrived at the same conclusion.  The length of the recession will depend on the course of the pandemic - and that is unknown for the present.  Regrettably, the usual leading indicators aren't useful with this type of clown car event.  

Stay-tuned…