Coronavirus: Why the economy won’t bounce back

Video Transcript:

Central bankers and economists are predicting that economists damaged by the coronavirus will bounce back quickly. I don't think they will. The bankers and the economists are not thinking straight because they see everything in hard fiscal terms. They think that if governments throw huge amounts of money at the problem they have manufactured, then large businesses will recover and soon begin operating as they did before. They don't give a damn about small businesses, of course. Indeed part of the plan is to destroy small businesses which are difficult to regulate and inefficient in taxation terms. This confidence from the bankers and economists is, I think, embarrassingly naive. Even if governments cancelled lockdowns and social distancing straight away, the damage done by a series of deliberately terrifying and oppressive regulations will last for decades. And probably for generations to come. And that, of course, is the aim. The politicians and the power brokers know what's going on. But most economists and most bankers are not at the top of the food chain. The fact is that fear and anxiety, both of which have been created in abundance, are not going to disappear overnight. There's much anger among those of us who see exactly what governments are doing, the thinkers and the skeptics and so on. But a large part of the population is too overwhelmed with fear to see the truth. Lots of people have been devastated by the way their lives have been disrupted and they see very little future. It's been noticeable that most of the protests about lockdowns and social distancing have come from the overforties. It's older people who see what's happening and who are by a large, feisty enough to stand up for themselves and their country and their freedom. And it's mainly those in the older age groups who find it difficult to understand why nations have been shut down for a virus which has killed far less than half the number of people who can be killed by a nasty wind to flu. And it's those people who realise that without people and businesses back at work and paying taxes there won't be any money for healthcare, education, roads or unemployment benefits. The economists and the central bankers don't realise that most people's habits will now be changed permanently. The economists and the central bankers live in a cocoon. They're protected from much of the horror which is going on around them. They have nice big fat pensions and their pay will keep coming whatever happens. People have become distrusting and suspicious. They don't trust anyone or anything outside their immediate circle. Many relationships have been fractured permanently. The effect of the stress people have been under will produce permanent damage. When or if GP's surgeries eventually reopened or be queues and long waiting lists, as people report their depressions and anxieties and ask for help. With no suitable training and very little time, GP's will-eye fear hand out vast quantities of anxiolytics around the depressions, most of which are addictive. Tens of millions will be turned into prescription drug zombies. In the future, shopping is going to be done largely online. People will want to hoard essentials because they know they're likely to be more lockdowns ahead. Fast numbers of small businesses will move online since their bricks and mortar businesses are no longer viable. People obviously won't travel as much as they used to. If holidays are taken, they'll be relatively low key and most people probably won't travel outside their home country. Millions are going to lose their jobs and become reliant on government paychecks. Millions more will work at home and most people will get their entertainment entirely from the television set. The consequence will be that many large businesses will fail as it becomes clear that their business models are no longer valid. And so in my view, the economists and the bankers have got it all wrong. There isn't going to be a rapid recovery from the coming recession and I don't think we should expect one. But then I don't really think that the politicians and global leaders ever expected that there would be a rapid recovery either. They arrested the wonderful bloke who used to wander up and down, carrying a sign which said, the end is nigh. I fear his time has come. We're heading for a global depression like nothing there's ever been before. We're being manipulated and we're going back to the days before the industrial revolution. And I'm afraid I don't think it's happening by accident. It's my hope and intention over the coming weeks to try to provide some reassurance and some thoughts on how best we can all deal with what is going to happen in the future. Thank you for watching an all-managed chair and thank you all for your support. This video has not been monetized. There shouldn't be any adverts in it around it or any sponsorship. And you can find more about the coronavirus and the whole host of other subjects on my website www.fernankommen.com which also doesn't have any adverts or any sponsorship. Thanks very much for watching.