Mr. Trump decided the European Union was a hotbed for the Coronavirus, so he suspended flights from most countries in Europe without telling European leaders. EU President Ursula von der Leyen told the press the president’s decision to cut them off from the United States was more about teaching the 27-member union a lesson rather than controlling the spread of COVID-19.
Trump defended his European travel ban. The president said Europe never tells him before it raises tariff, so his move to suspend travel from Europe is sort of the same thing. Mr. Trump claims he wants to protect Americans, but in reality, COVID-19 already has a hold on America, so suspending flights will do little to change that fact, according to the New York Times.
The president still hasn’t taken the COVID-19 test even though he shook the hand of an infected Brazilian official when Brazil’s President Bolsonaro came to Washington. Mr. Trump is a germaphobe so he uses hand sanitizer after shaking people’s hands, and he thinks that helps him beat the virus. Senators and other officials close to the president continue to self-quarantine for shaking hands with people who had contact with infected people. But Trump doesn’t think he has to do that, according to the Washington Post.
Mr. Trump sent Treasury Secretary on a mission to convince Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to cut interest rates to zero at the March 17th meeting. Wall Street economists think the Feds will cut rates again to stimulate the economy. But New York Times economist Paul Krugman thinks another rate cut won’t stop the recession headed for the states.
But Powell did decide to buy more bonds to expand its asset sheet to keep the bond market in positive territory. The Feds will inject billions into the repo market each month to protect the bond market. The yield on a 10-year Treasury note dropped below 1% for the first time in years. That usually doesn’t happen when the stock market enters a bear market like it did when stock values declined by 20% this week.
The president keeps pushing a payroll tax cut to put more money in consumer pockets, but that move would cost the government more than the 2008 bank bailout. Democrats and Republicans think that’s a bad idea, but Trump stands behind that decision. A payroll tax bailout would add another $1 trillion to the national debt, and lawmakers think consumers won’t leave home while the virus spreads, so they won’t spend the extra money.
Dil Bole Oberoi
