When the United States Catches a Cold

OP-ED

There is no such thing as absolute certainty in politics and economics, but I have a feeling in my bones that Georgia may be affected by a reduction in US aid, though we’re locked in until at least the end of the fiscal year in September. Most likely, the effect won’t be immediate. In the meanwhile, things look not so attractive in America itself. The crux of the matter is that the American Federal Reserve has lowered its interest rates to zero. There goes a saying in America: “When the United States catches a cold, the world gets the flu.” Now the whole world has the flu, but the current American administration loudly proclaims that America will be the first to recover.

Undeniably, acrimonious political language has developed between some nations, the most audible altercation having occurred between China and America, all connected with the distribution of the killer microbe. Does this mean anything? It might, assuming that eventually the world will benefit, except for China, as the American press tells us. That’s because the United States of America has a president like Mr. Donald Trump. In the hands of any other president, especially democratically appointed ones, the situation, namely the American attitude toward China, could have been utterly different from the one the world is witnessing right now. Trump revived the American economy once, and he can do it again, starting by disengaging from China and bringing American manufacturing, and the jobs that comes with it, back to the United States, or alternatively, by sending them to countries like Georgia.

At the same time, the Feds are confidently predicting that the next three months might be worse than anything America has ever experienced in history. It also emphasized that an unparalleled drop in economic activity is quite thinkable in the next few months, openly hinting that an augmented governmental incentive might be necessary, and the economy will need further support from the entire workforce of the country if they want the recovery to be quick and vigorous. Because 30 million Americans have joined the ranks of the unemployed in the past two months, it will presumably take a solid amount of time to get back to where the country was before the virus, the ultimate goal being the highest rate of employment. This is the current governmental policy which cannot be simpler and clearer in the force majeure which has caught the entire world napping. In its statement, the Federal Reserve said it is "committed to using its full range of tools to support the US economy at this challenging time."

Despite this optimistic evaluation, the damage to the economy is already colossal and it needs serious intervention to alleviate the strife. The Federal Reserve is doing its utmost to use every possible cushion to smoothen the destructive impact on the domestic economy and global financial markets, but this is certainly happening at the expense of the invidious standard of living which the States created under the leadership of this president. So far, Corona looks stronger than the human efforts.

The global economy, including American and Georgian, will weaken further, but it cannot deteriorate forever: ways out have to be sought. This is exactly what America, together with the rest of the world, is engaged in, but nobody can say now for sure how effective the efforts are going to be.

The American economy looked to be in perfect health just a couple of months ago until the virus attacked it with its gigantic destructive force, followed by ubiquitous layoffs and business shutdowns, annihilating consumer spending, exterminating the country’s manufacturing potential and wiping out its construction prospect.

Why should Georgia or this journalist be interested in the current condition of the American economic mechanism? It is more than simple to answer this trivial question: America’s wellbeing is directly proportional to the standard of living in this country. It’s not very difficult to understand and recognize this basic truth, is it?

By Nugzar B. Ruhadze