New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is tweeting out of both sides of his mouth. On the one hand, he’s congratulating New Yorkers for “bending the curve” of coronavirus cases.
That was supposed to be the purpose of lockdowns — two weeks to “flatten the curve.” That was how many weeks ago now?
On the other hand:
Most New Yorkers will have to continue staying at home until May 28 to keep the novel coronavirus from spreading, unless they meet benchmarks set by the state, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Thursday night.
The only parts of the state this extension does not apply to are upstate areas that already hit the benchmarks gauging whether it is safe to restart a few selected industries, including manufacturing and construction.
At least some parts of New York are getting their freedoms back in baby steps.
But Gov. Cuomo is also threatening businesses with a mind-bogglingly dumb idea:
I'm proposing the Americans First Law: If a corporation does not rehire the same number of employees, they must return any COVID funds received.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) May 12, 2020
Many of the companies he shut down are not coming back at all. They are gone. The whole country is awash in corporate bankruptcies.
Those that survive will have lost substantial revenue. Demand will not rebound to pre-pandemic levels for a long time. We’re at least 30% off pre-pandemic demand now, probably more. Reopening will not just snap everything back into place. Survivor companies will have to operate at some restricted level. This will also cost them revenue. They will not be able to afford to rehire every single worker they had before the pandemic, unfortunately. Economics just doesn’t work that way.
As one tweeter replied, only someone who has never run a business would come up with an idea like this.
This is exactly what someone who never ran a business would say.
— JustASlice (@AmericanAsPie) May 12, 2020
Is this as criminally dumb as his idea to tax the volunteers who put their lives on the line to help New Yorkers suffering from the pandemic? It’s certainly right up there with it.
But Cuomo’s worst idea remains the one that got nearly 2,000 elderly New Yorkers killed in nursing homes.
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