Since we’ll have to wait a year for the Summer Olympics,
I was wondering: If coronavirus were the Olympics,
how would the U.S. stack up with other countries?
We would definitely get gold in synchronized unpreparedness,
speed bragging and marathon clusterf*ckery.
But what about economic recovery? Do we have a shot at bronze?
I’m Francesca Fiorentini, and today we’re looking at how America’s plan
for preventing economic collapse due to coronavirus compares
with the rest of the world. Will we take home the gold?
Or will our coach pull a Tonya Harding on the working class?
[Newsbroke theme song]
America’s $2 trillion stimulus bill to help businesses and people recover
from coronavirus isn’t the best piece of legislation,
but it’s also not the worst piece of legislation.
It’s kinda like my quarantine cooking.
There’s some good bits in there, and at least you’re eating.
The bill is better than the 2008 Wall Street bailout,
because it has some regulations and spares a thought to workers,
17 million of whom have
already filed for unemployment.
There are loans to small businesses that employ half the U.S. workforce,
but those loans can also be granted to casinos.
So, don’t worry, New York may be ruined,
but New York-New York is gonna be fine.
The relief bill also has federal funds for expanding unemployment insurance
to cover self-employed workers, independent contractors
and gig workers through the end of the year.
And then there’s the one-time payment of $1,200 to every American,
which is something. But watching the scale of this problem
and coming up with $1,200 check is like watching the movie “Titanic”
and thinking, “The problem was there weren’t enough floating doors.”
But the government is having a hard time even carrying out
the few measures that have been passed. Small business loans are stalling
and the IRS can’t figure out how to quickly deliver that measly $1,200,
in part because the IRS’ IT is apparently the oldest
in the federal government with database systems dating back to the 1960s.
That means that our tax information, including our bank accounts
and social security numbers, are basically being guarded
by a Speak & Spell.
And then there’s the fact that the head of the Department of Labor,
on who our unemployment checks rely, is the failson
of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Eugene Scalia.
Eugene Scalia is a former corporate lawyer who, in 2006,
won Walmart a lawsuit that allowed them to avoid paying
more contributions to their employees’ health care plans or to Medicaid.
Walmart, which is right now failing
to keep its workers safe
on the job in the midst of a pandemic.
Like, where do these way too on-the-nose conflicts of interest end
for this administration? What’s next? Are we going to find out
that Deborah Birx’s ex-husband was SARS. ‘Cause I believe it.
So how are other countries handling the economic devastation
from coronavirus? Economists at UC Berkeley say jobs abroad
aren’t being lost at nearly the scale as they are in the U.S.
And that’s partly because of a very different approach to helping workers.
In countries like the UK, the Netherlands, Germany and others,
the government is essentially putting workers on federal payroll.
Germany is paying workers 67% of their wages, the UK is paying 80%,
and the Netherlands is paying 90% of employee wages for companies
that have lost at least 20% of revenue. And that makes a lot of sense.
If most of the population continues to have a steady income,
they’ll have money to spend and continue supporting the economy.
And when social distancing finally ends, those workers are still guaranteed
their jobs back, which will mean recovery will be a lot quicker.
Meanwhile, in the States, techies will be creating Airbnb for underpasses.
It’s pretty tight. You can reserve a place for your tent
in the spot with the fewest needles.
Other countries are getting money to people a lot faster also,
almost as if there was an emergency.
Germany was able to dole out
500 million euros in the span of four days
to struggling artists and freelancers,
including everyone from musicians
to B-list internet celebrities.
Why are we not doing Newsbroke in Germany?
Was geht ab, Deutschland! Willkommen bei Newsbroke!
[Laughter]
Denmark is going even bigger in, what some are calling,
a remedy for avoiding economic depression.
There, the government is
helping by paying 75 to 90%
of all businesses’ employee salaries,
if they avoid laying them off.
And they’re offering to cover rent for businesses that can't afford it.
They’ve also invested way more than the U.S. has,
spending more than our $2 trillion stimulus budget in under four months.
Remember that’s for a country that’s 57 times smaller than ours.
That’s infuriating. Someone smaller than you spending way more money.
That’s like when I found out the YouTube star Ryan ToysReview
was worth $22 million.
We get it. You’re little.
Hack.
Maybe I should move to Germany.
Heute sprechen wir über die Wirtschaft.
Was that right? [Background laughter]
Mind you, Denmark already has national health care, free university,
and paid family leave. Because economic recovery is not just about wages,
it’s about providing benefits that alleviate all people, like child care.
Australia just announced they’re
funneling nearly $1 billion dollars
into free child care for
about a million families.
Meanwhile in the U.S., parents are sh*t-outta-luck.
I am in fact working from home.
[Background child scream]
It has been a little challenging.
But we are gonna get through this.
[children talking in background]
Ugh, I can’t imagine how hard it is to get work done in the house with a kid.
Unless that kid is Ryan ToysReview.
In which case, self-quarantine is a windfall.
Honey, we have 6 1/2 more videos to film today, alright.
You can do your homework when you finish
playing with your godd*mned toys!
Another step countries are taking is nationalization.
Instead of bailing out private corporations and hoping
they spend the money on maintaining workers
and not helping their CEOs get a third vacation home,
governments are simply taking control of them.
Spain nationalized all of its hospitals,
which is one very direct way
of making sure that workers
and patients are being looked after.
And, instead of bailing out
airlines, Italy is taking
control of the company Alitalia.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., despite airlines
like American getting $12 billion dollars
in stimulus money, workers
will still be taking a huge pay cut.
Remember, this is a corporation
that spent more than $15 billion dollars
buying back its own stock, which is a scheme that helps shareholders
get richer but does nothing for employees or customers.
Instead, we’ve been paying more for baggage, meals,
flight changes and entertainment systems.
Joke’s on them ‘cause, I don’t need to watch “A Dog’s Purpose” to cry in public.
I do that on my own just fine.
American Airlines made so much money,
its CEO said in 2017 they would,
“never lose money ever again.”
And, lo and behold,
we’re bailing them out once again!
How do they keep getting away with this?
It’s like they have us by the cojones.
What are you going to do, take a choo-choo train!?
[Wheezing laugh]
Of course, in the U.S., nationalizing private companies,
even if it’s for the good of both the public
and private corporations themselves,
will inevitably get you labeled a socialist
- even by people who don’t mind government handouts
so long as they’re going to the rich.
We’re a country not based on
nationalizing our business.
Call a person over in Venezuela,
ask them, how did nationalization
of their businesses work out?
Not too well.
But we’re getting calls,
here’s the beauty of it.
If we go out and we want, let’s say, masks.
We don’t know who to call on masks.
But Hanes, who makes things of cotton.
They called us, and they said,
we’re going to make millions of masks.
The beauty is, they’re calling us.
The beauty is, they’re calling us? We needed these products months ago.
People are dying. Why is he treating these companies
like he’s dating them.
I never call first. I wait for days, sometimes weeks for them to call.
I wait and I wait, until one day, months later, they finally call me back.
And, turns out, it’s a butt dial, and I listen. Power move.
But hey, by the way, how is actual socialism working out
during a pandemic in countries like, I dunno, Cuba?
Cuba is going to send medical staff
to Lombardy to help Italian doctors
fight the outbreak.
What we’re going to do is cure
and bring relief, not only to the Italian
people but the world's population.
This is a global battle,
and we have to fight it together.
Oh, they’ve got doctors to spare? While ours are wearing garbage bags?
I love the free market.
Trump and most of Washington are opposed to the kind of bold action
that both the economy and the vast majority of Americans need
to survive this pandemic, because they’ve wrongly labeled
any government intervention as socialist.
But here’s the thing, the UK, Germany, Italy or Australia
aren’t run by socialists or radical leftists.
In fact, they’re all run by relative conservatives.
They simply understand that the government's role
in all this is hugely important. And they won’t sit on the sidelines
and leave workers or businesses to the wolves of the free market.
When will we realize the same?
And until we that day:
Danke fürs zuschauen Newsbroke!
Thanks again for watching Newsbroke. I am sorry for butchering
the German language. No disrespect. I just couldn’t get anyone on the phone
who spoke German, and I was not gonna watch that many YouTube tutorials.
Let us know in the comments below what actions and steps you think the U.S.
government should take to actually tackle this economic recession
and possible depression, and we will see you next week!
[Newsbroke outro jingle]