As the consequences of the COVID19 global lockdown become known, the economy of the United States is revealed to be in a terrible state. In the ongoing debate of whether lockdown will cause more harm than good, Activistpost listed the following statistics:   in Activistpost:

“#1 According to the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, more than half of all the storefronts in the entire city of San Francisco are no longer in business.

#2 Just a few hours ago, New York City reported that it had an unemployment rate of almost 20 percent during the month of July.

#3 Speaking of New York, 83 percent of all restaurants in the city were unable to pay their full rent last month.

#4 In 2020, the state of Louisiana has lost twice as many jobs as it did after Hurricane Katrina.  By the way, many are concerned that Hurricane Laura could soon become a similar monster storm.

#5 In the state of South Carolina, an eye-popping 52 percent of all renters “are at risk of eviction”.

#6 Americans now owe more than 21 billion dollars in unpaid rent.

#7 Overall, 27 percent of all Americans did not make their rent or mortgage payment last month.

#8 According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the delinquency rate on residential mortgages increased by 386 basis points last quarter.  That was the most rapid rise that we have ever seen by a very wide margin.

#9 U.S. bankruptcies are already at their highest level in 10 years and they are expected to surge dramatically as we approach the end of this calendar year.

#10 For companies with more than 1 billion dollars in assets, it is being projected that there will be a record number of bankruptcies in 2020.

#11 World trade plunged to the “lowest levels on record” during the month of June.

#12 The percentage of hotel mortgages that are 30 or more days delinquent soared to a whopping 23.4 percent last month.

#13 American Airlines just announced that they will be eliminating 19,000 jobs next month.

#14 31 percent of U.S. workers that were brought back to work after being laid off during the early stages of this pandemic have been laid off a second time, and another 26 percent have been told that layoffs may be coming soon.

#15 According to one recent survey, about half of all U.S. workers that have been laid off during this pandemic believe that their jobs losses are permanent.

#16 The IRS is projecting that it will receive 37 million fewer W-2 forms for this year than originally anticipated.

#17 Over the last 22 weeks, more than 57 million Americans have filed new claims for unemployment benefits.  In all of U.S. history, we have never seen anything that is even worth comparing to this. ”

Many of the numbers on that list are so catastrophic that it is difficult to believe they are actually true.

What we experienced back in 2008 and 2009 was a “deep recession”, but that pales into insignificance to the current situation.

Comments: If the USA has crumbled so quickly, imagine the situation in poorer countries with less resources. Ironically, the countries where the population does not depend on the government for financial support and those where the population owns even small patches of land, where they can still grow food and live a more subsistence life, may actually fare better than middle income and more developed countries. However, many African countries that have been minimally affected by COVID19, still locked down their country or by default will have suffered economically. Some, like South Africa and Kenya, that rely on tourism, have already been forced to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for support. This may further erode their economic sovereignty and make them vulnerable to dictates of the IMF and World Bank, institutions not known for their compassion in supporting the people of Africa.