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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGates says we can't restart the economy soon and simply "ignore that pile of bodies over in the corn
Bill Gates says we cant restart the economy soon and simply ignore that pile of bodies over in the corner
Gates rebuked the proposal of leaders like Donald Trump.
By Theodore Schleifer@teddyschleifer Mar 24, 2020, 1:44pm EDT
Bill Gates rebuked proposals, floated over the last two days by leaders like Donald Trump, to reopen the global economy despite the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak, saying that this approach would be very irresponsible.
Gates did not mention Trump by name, but the American president has said that he may decide to relax some of the countrys social distancing in order to jumpstart the countrys shut-down economy. Gates, the countrys leading philanthropist, has been among the most active tech leaders in using his resources to try and contain the virus.
There really is no middle ground, and its very tough to say to people, Hey, keep going to restaurants, go buy new houses, ignore that pile of bodies over in the corner. We want you to keep spending because theres maybe a politician who thinks GDP growth is all that counts, Gates said in an interview with TED Tuesday. Its very irresponsible for somebody to suggest that we can have the best of both worlds.
Trump has suggested that this middle ground would indeed be possible by letting some healthy people return to work, for instance, while keeping more vulnerable workers in their homes. Experts have said that drastic and widespread social distancing is required to keep the pandemic from spreading further. Trump has said he would make a decision at the end of the month but has said that he believes the cure could be worse than the problem itself.
Asked what he would do if he were president, Gates returned to his concerns about reopening the economy.
The economic effect of this is really dramatic. Nothing like this has ever happened to the economy in our lifetimes, Gates said. But bringing the economy back ... thats more of a reversible thing than bringing people back to life. So were going to take the pain in the economic dimension huge pain in order to minimize the pain in the diseases-and-death dimension.
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https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/3/24/21192638/coronavirus-bill-gates-trump-reopen-business
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Gates says we can't restart the economy soon and simply "ignore that pile of bodies over in the corn (Original Post)
babylonsister
Mar 2020
OP
You'd have to test everyone who went to work, to make sure they weren't asymptomatic carriers
struggle4progress
Mar 2020
#1
struggle4progress
(118,282 posts)1. You'd have to test everyone who went to work, to make sure they weren't asymptomatic carriers
2naSalit
(86,579 posts)2. And often. ...nt