US to be open for business soon? Trump seems anxious to prevent dent on economy

With the US all set to go into presidential elections, Trump probably is living one of his worse nightmares. The global pandemic outbreak of the coronavirus has hit the US badly. The US has currently more than 35,000 cases.

The epidemic has hit the markets badly with scores of businesses being shuttered. Trump on March 6, by saying that it was alright for those with COVID-19 symptoms to go to work, had indicated that his government might just ask people to get back to work, fearing that the pandemic might crumble an economy largely built on capitalist ideals. 

Having been a businessman himself, the anxious President is weighing jumpstarting the economy in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, the Washington Post reported. Trump is worried that crashing numbers might hurt his chances of being re-elected.

In a first, the New York Stock Market closed the trading floor on March 22 and has been trading remotely ever since. 

In a tweet on March 23, Trump wrote, “WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF.” The President tweeted this regarding the shut down now being practised to prevent spread of the coronavirus. 

At a news conference on Monday, Trump said he plans to reopen certain parts of the economy not long after the 15-day initiative ends. He plans to go head with the plan even if his team of medical and public health advisers don’t agree with him. Trump, according to local media reports said, “if it was up to the doctors, they’d say let’s shut down the entire world.”

According to medical experts, Trump encouraging people to get back to normal lives will not help slow down the pandemic; it could even help it spread rapidly. 

Right now, one in three Americans is being urged to remain indoors to curb the virus' spread.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has plunged 38% since topping out at an all-time high a month ago. 

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin predicted last week, that unemployment rate in the US could reach 20 per cent and as per a Goldman Sachs report that came out on March 20 estimated that US’ gross domestic product in the second quarter could shrink by 24 per cent. This is a bigger dip than seen during the recession of 1958, when the GDP took a hit by 10 per cent. 

And so while health experts might be wary about sending the workforce back into offices and get businesses to reopen when the 15-day period ends on Monday, there is a small per cent of economists, reports the Washington Post, who might be echoing Trump’s thoughts.

Former top economic adviser to Trump Gary Cohn seemed to be on the fence. He tweeted: "Is it time to start discussing the need for a date when the economy can turn back on. Policymakers have taken bold public health and economic actions to address the coronavirus, but businesses need clarity. Otherwise they will assume the worst and make decisions to survive."