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What The Market Wouldn't Bear
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It was something I told people for the last few years: The mantra "the economy is booming" was illusory. The stock market, I'd tell them, is not a good barometer of how the actual public is doing, and low unemployment figures masked the very real and dangerous problem of underemployment -- people making a lot less than they used to or should, and having to work multiple jobs just to pay the rent. And now, with the pandemic, the practically immediate collapse of the economy is now being noted as a sign that the economy was not in proper shape to begin with. Part of the problem is how companies stressed "efficiency," paring back staff and production to the absolute minimum (or less) with no cushion in case of trouble. Wall Street valued cost savings to a pathological extent. And so, when things went south, companies were unprepared and now we'll see Great Depression-level layoffs and pressure to prematurely "return to normal." This is inexcusable, but, well, here we are. (Washington Post)
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