Paul Krugman on the State of the U.S. Economy | Amanpour and Company

In his latest column for the New York Times, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman writes that the disaster unfolding in America "is what happens when you put a horrible boss in charge of running the country, and nobody can say when, if ever, the damage will be repaired."

Originally aired on July 31, 2020.

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Amanpour and Company features wide-ranging, in-depth conversations with global thought leaders and cultural influencers on the issues and trends impacting the world each day, from politics, business and technology to arts, science and sports. Christiane Amanpour leads the conversation on global and domestic news from London with contributions by prominent journalists Walter Isaacson, Michel Martin, Alicia Menendez and Hari Sreenivasan from the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center in New York City.

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[redwoods]

This is going to be a very difficult holiday season for millions of Americans. Please donate if you can to food banks, toy drives, donate a turkey or tree. If you can donate you can call an elderly shut-in once a week and check in with them. We all have to commit to helping in any way we can. We can take care of each other.

[milasaba]

Shame Washington folks are delusional about an easy recovery! Humility goes a long way in truly understanding the seriousness of the situation and leaving public health experts to do their job😷

[romanclay]

Putin: "Boy, I want you to sow chaos, discord and division across America. Let Covid flourish."  
Trump: "Yes, boss."

[jimmclean]

Even this guy is calling it "The second wave" when it is still the First wave. The second wave will be even worse

[danherrick]

The Fed printed a V shape recovery. And it only exists on Wall Street, witch is a mirage.

[tekannon]

Dear Ms Amanpour and Mr Krugman, Thank you Ms Amanpour for your excellent reporting and equally great team in delivering to your country and the world very interesting and timely analyses of current events. Thank you Mr Krugman for explaining the complexities of economics, the economy and all of its parts in language everyone can understand. As an independent observer from the other side of the world, my perspective is from another angle from yours, but what it looks like from where I am across the world from you. I won’t be long; but I have an idea on how to get your economy on its feet. Can I just give my thoughts on how to win on the Coronovirus pandemic in your country and around the world? Great. I'll be brief. I am an inventor. Here is my assessment of how to control the Covid-19 virus and all viruses that this way come. Up until now we have gone after the virus passively. We wear masks, gloves, face shields, eye protection, in other words we wait for it to get to us first. Next, we’re trying to come up with a vaccine which will hopefully protect us. What I believe we need to do now is to use reverse strategy and go after the Coronovirus actively where it lives: in the air. We can do this with air scrubbers, air processors i.e. air cleaners adjusted to bake or freeze or incapacitate the virus in its molecular form and take it immediately out of the air we breathe. We could do this in every place where people congregate; every classroom could have one working 24/7 for example. Still not convinced? Think of it as Dyson air conveyors i.e. portable devices that filter out or kill the virus with ultra-violet light or something that renders it inoffensive. The plain simple truth of the matter is that it’s infecting us by travelling through the air. We can’t be serious in using only masks to strike at an invisible foe. My logic goes this way: let's go to it instead of letting it come to us! Why not attack it in the air before it infects us? We can do this by scrubbing the air with portable air conveyors that take in the air, disinfect it, filter it, and send it back out, virus free, into the classroom, or train, or pub, or office etc. This is my idea. I don’t have the means to make a prototype, but from what I see, the virus is floating in the air, and if we can filter it out of the air in places where people congregate, it may very well lower the amount of people getting infecting. Let’s go after it in its territory, instead of sitting passively by, trying to block it from infecting us, because we can see it's a losing battle. Please Christine and Paul, could you give us your impression of this approach towards eliminating the virus? Can someone you know please make a prototype? The technology has been around since submarines scrubbing CO2 out of the air underwater. My gut feeling tells me this is one way we can save people at risk and be prepared for the next wave(s) of Coronovirus. Be safe-

[missx]

1 and only 1 good thing of 2020, the insanity of black Friday is cancelled!

[j.m.b]

The main reason why we are in this situation is because the same people who scream "WE HAVE TO OPEN, NO SHUTTING DOWN!!" are the same people who don't want to do what's necessary, like wearing a mask, not even for some time, it's a dagerous mix of arrogance self entitlement and ignorance.

[selbalamir]

Wear a mask now. Or at Christmas. The choice is yours.

[Aristotelezz]

To solve the corona problem, the US first got to solve it's main problem. Fortunately that can be solved for 100%! In November there's a great opportunity!

[zmpwins]

Any news about the US decline of economy, is great news 😎

[rocky]

Thanks trump and the entire gop. You will NOT be forgotten on November

[stevepax]

If we just go round to all the country clubs, golf courses, mar-a-lags, and mcMansions and round up the trumper gadfly layabouts and put them to work, everything will be solved.

[diegooland]

It's not clear? How is testing and contact tracing not clear?

[HS-jqgo]

What covid ? people don’t have enough food to eat 😵

[frankhoffman]

The stock market rally has been holding everything else up. The fact that it seems entirely decoupled from the rest of the economy evokes a question phrased in the alternative. Is this stock market experiencing a bubble, unsupported by the numbers OR does this disconnect represent a new reality for the stock market ?? If it is the former, a collapse is coming, dragging real estate down with it. If it is the latter, the recession will be much less severe.

[iiWNMii]

Meanwhile people are buying tech stocks for the giggle factor on sites like reddit. This bubble is gonna burst.

[jlvandat]

Krugman is someone I follow closely. I agree we (actually, DJT) has created a blunder of historical proportions resulting thousands of lives lost; most preventable. And if the pandemic continues on current trajectory we could see something resembling a depression, but without the soup lines. The only thing that can prevent that scenario is an effective vaccine that can be made available within the next few months. In previous times, this time frame would be impossible but with today's technology and level of understanding in biology, etc., I am cautiously optimistic we'll have one at least before December. Stay healthy all. Research Vitamin D as an effective preventative measure against many diseases including COVID-19.

[cfmpam]

Biden needs to order a full 2-2.5 month shut down starting in January 2021!!!
Must people stay inside anyway (winter)so it would be the perfect time to do it!!!

[commentatortea]

Don't worry, we'll print 3 trillion dollars and let the world believe there is value behind that flimsy piece of paper.