The U.S. economy has plummeted under the weight of the Coronavirus pandemic, which has left tens of millions of people out of work for a time. According to recently released numbers, the U.S. GDP shrunk in the second quarter by 9.5 percent, and when the drop rate is annualized — meaning recalibrated into an annual rate — that drop comes in a staggering 32.9 percent, which is the drop spread out over the course of the year. In a cover page released this week following the devastating news, The New York Times wrote in large letters across the top that the virus “wipes out 5 years of economic growth” — and that period of time, of course, stretches back to before Donald Trump took office, meaning that his supposedly great economy is nowhere to be found.
This continues to be false. People don't die just because they were tested. People don't end up in hospital just because they were tested. https://t.co/C5eb49GieP
— Jackson Proskow (@JProskowGlobal) July 31, 2020
Check out the new cover from the Times below:
And this front page … pic.twitter.com/aoalUztkar
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) July 31, 2020
The second quarter decline in GDP in the United States is the largest decline that has ever been recorded in a single quarter in the country. The Times reports:
‘The collapse was unprecedented in its speed and breathtaking in its severity. The only possible comparisons in modern American history came during the Great Depression and the demobilization after World War II, both of which occurred before the advent of modern economic statistics.’
Controlling the Coronavirus is integral to getting the economy back on track, since as long as there’s a deadly virus spreading among the population, certain business activities are going to necessarily be curtailed. Yet, the Trump administration has failed to implement any kind of national policy that has effectively beaten back the virus, even as other countries get their own outbreaks under control.
Over 150,000 Americans dead on your watchhttps://t.co/8leLBBw2NV
— House Homeland Security Committee (@HomelandDems) July 31, 2020
The U.S. is stuck with the imbecilic excuse for a president, Donald Trump, who’s still trying to convince people that the U.S. has so many cases because it does so much testing, which is an utterly moronic statement. The cases would still exist and be relevant and people would still be getting sick and dying even if not a single test was performed.
The US has experienced 23 percent of total worldwide coronavirus deaths. Testing doesn't explain that. https://t.co/krTu2u8cWY
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 31, 2020