Long term repercussions from Covid-19 what will they be?

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Well, yes, but probably not enough to clear out the current hospital population.

One admires the optimism.

[CityTech]

Originally Posted by esquire

Perhaps it is the "optional" seniors residences that will take a hit, i.e. the senior-oriented apartments, condos, life leases... Places that exist to make residents lives a bit easier by arranging for cooking, cleaning, entertainment, providing a social network, that sort of thing.

For true personal care homes that support seniors with basic life functions, I suspect that demand is probably much less elastic. But even if that's how it plays out, the impact would still be huge...

My grandmother lived in one of those optional type seniors homes when she was in her 70s. An apartment building but where the units had kitchenettes instead of full kitchens and there was a communal dining room where all the residents had dinner cooked for them (included in the cost of their rent) and there were lots of communal spaces (fitness rooms, lounge rooms, games rooms, etc) with lots of programmed activities and events. She loved it there and she kept busy with lots of friends to interact with regularly. She was able to stay there and live that life until she passed away very suddenly at age 78 from ovarian cancer, which is one of those cancers where you tend to not realize you have it until you're basically already hopeless. One week she felt a little unwell, went to the doctor, got diagnosed, and died 20 days later, being transferred straight to palliative once admitted to the hospital. She literally went on a hike 6 weeks before her death. While it was hard to lose her so suddenly, she never had to go through the long decay into nursing care that many seniors these days go through and I guess in a way I'm thankful for that.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by CityTech

My grandmother lived in one of those optional type seniors homes when she was in her 70s. An apartment building but where the units had kitchenettes instead of full kitchens and there was a communal dining room where all the residents had dinner cooked for them (included in the cost of their rent) and there were lots of communal spaces (fitness rooms, lounge rooms, games rooms, etc) with lots of programmed activities and events. She loved it there and she kept busy with lots of friends to interact with regularly. She was able to stay there and live that life until she passed away very suddenly at age 78 from ovarian cancer, which is one of those cancers where you tend to not realize you have it until you're basically already hopeless. One week she felt a little unwell, went to the doctor, got diagnosed, and died 20 days later, being transferred straight to palliative once admitted to the hospital. She literally went on a hike 6 weeks before her death. While it was hard to lose her so suddenly, she never had to go through the long decay into nursing care that many seniors these days go through and I guess in a way I'm thankful for that.

Indeed, for those that have not yet gone through it with their parents, the goal should be to avoid nursing homes until there is absolutely no alternative.

[kwoldtimer]

Visa and Mastercard have raised the tap limit for credit cards to $250 from $100. Even less cash in our futures, one imagines.

[thurmas]

European Union well on it's way to falling apart.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/eur...-their-union/ar-BB126ld1?ocid=spartanntp

[goodgrowth]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Visa and Mastercard have raised the tap limit for credit cards to $250 from $100. Even less cash in our futures, one imagines.

At this rate we'll all be using bitcoin by the end of the year

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by thurmas

European Union well on it's way to falling apart.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/eur...-their-union/ar-BB126ld1?ocid=spartanntp

Yeah, well EU nemesis nations like Russia and China jumping to Italy's rescue when its neighbours refused, was a pretty ominous sign.

[thurmas]

I am for the EU breaking up as it has been so harmful to the southern EU countries since the Euro came into being in what was it 1999 or 2000. They need control of their own currencies so they can rebuild themselves after this pandemic.

[milomilo]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Visa and Mastercard have raised the tap limit for credit cards to $250 from $100. Even less cash in our futures, one imagines.

Nice. Bring on the cashless future.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Visa and Mastercard have raised the tap limit for credit cards to $250 from $100. Even less cash in our futures, one imagines.

I am grateful for that. I hate touching the icky pin pads.

Now I just need American Express to get with the program and make their tap function work properly like Visa/Mastercard do. So many pay terminals require you to insert or even swipe Amex cards. Until recently it was just a minor annoyance but now it's a problem.

[blueandgoldguy]

Originally Posted by whatnext

The cruise industry may never bounce back:

The coronavirus may sink the cruise-ship business
The industry has few friends and its main customers, the elderly, may shun it for good
Mar 31st 2020

...Richard Clarke of Bernstein, a research firm, points out that the industry’s reputation has always had a problem with norovirus, a less serious disease which causes vomiting and diarrhoea, often reported by the press on cruise ships. The covid-19 outbreaks cement perceptions that if holidaymakers “go on a cruise they could get ill and trapped at sea”. It does not help that so many cruisers are elderly, the group most vulnerable to covid-19. According to the Cruise Lines International Association, a trade body, a third of cruisers globally are aged over 60...

....A more fundamental worry is that the numbers holidaying at sea may simply never bounce back when the industry weighs anchor again. Airlines and hotels will always be needed by business travellers; holidaymakers have options other than cruising. Worse, cruising seems not to appeal to the young. Surveys suggest millennials want more adventurous holidays, and are more concerned about sustainability, overtourism and workers’ rights. These are all areas in which cruise lines have been very publicly criticised in recent years. The immediate problem, however, will be how to lure old folk back on board, now that the spread of the disease is indelibly linked in the public mind to cruise ships. For next year’s holidays, expect many silver cruisers to rediscover their land legs.

https://www.economist.com/business/2020/03/31/the-coronavirus-may-sink-the-cruise-ship-business

I wonder how many cruise ships in the world have a capacity for let's say over 2,000 persons? I would think it's absurdly high. There is sure to be some substantial attrition within the industry after this is all over.

[kwoldtimer]

Perhaps smaller, more spacious ( and more expensive) cruise ships in the future?

[esquire]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Perhaps smaller, more spacious ( and more expensive) cruise ships in the future?

I would think that's the future. Mega-cruise ships were sickness incubators even before covid... this could be the last straw.

[ssiguy]

Originally Posted by thurmas

I am for the EU breaking up as it has been so harmful to the southern EU countries since the Euro came into being in what was it 1999 or 2000. They need control of their own currencies so they can rebuild themselves after this pandemic.

I agree with you assertion that the Euro has been a harmful to Southern Europe and they should get back their own currencies and hence monetary controls but I disagree with breaking up the EU. The reality is that the EU was, and remains, an excellent idea. For such intertwined economies and cultural binds, the free movement of goods and people makes perfect sense. It had it's quirks and bureaucracy but overall, it was beneficial to all members economically and socially. Another point, that I think many of us outside Europe don't fully appreciate, is that it has led to a war-free Europe which is a first in it's history.

The trouble began when they introduced the Euro. It, unlike the EU in general, proceeded from the very ludicrous notion that because all countries are member EU states, they have the same economic, political, and social needs...……..a one size fits all approach. In reality it has turned into a German policy that is suppose to fit all.

When talking about the many problems in contemporary Europe, I think it is very important we differentiate between the EU and the Euro.

[wave46]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

The trouble began when they introduced the Euro. It, unlike the EU in general, proceeded from the very ludicrous notion that because all countries are member EU states, they have the same economic, political, and social needs...……..a one size fits all approach. In reality it has turned into a German policy that is suppose to fit all.

When talking about the many problems in contemporary Europe, I think it is very important we differentiate between the EU and the Euro.

Indeed. Had Germany kept the Deutsche mark, the economic boom would have been tempered by its appreciation.

The Euro's weaker members pull down the relative value of the Euro, so Germany can export things cheaper than would otherwise be the case had they retained the mark.

Economically weaker countries are hobbled by the high value of the Euro compared to their national currency (say, the Greek drachma) so they are penalized.

In an economy as complex as the EU, the inability of one currency to reflect the true state of each member economy leads to weird distortions.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by thurmas

I am for the EU breaking up as it has been so harmful to the southern EU countries since the Euro came into being in what was it 1999 or 2000. They need control of their own currencies so they can rebuild themselves after this pandemic.

EU member countries in southern and central-eastern Europe did get some pretty nice shiny infrastructure out of this EU adventure though.

It's often shinier than the average condition of infrastructure in western and northern EU states.

[wave46]

Originally Posted by Acajack

EU member countries in southern and central-eastern Europe did get some pretty nice shiny infrastructure out of this EU adventure though.

It's often shinier than the average condition of infrastructure in western and northern EU states.

Some might argue that the infrastructure would have been better off not being built, especially given the debts involved.

There's lots of fancy infrastructure from the 2004 Olympics in Greece that is woefully underused.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by wave46

Some might argue that the infrastructure would have been better off not being built, especially given the debts involved.

There's lots of fancy infrastructure from the 2004 Olympics in Greece that is woefully underused.

Oh, I wasn't talking about stuff like that.

I had highways, railways and transit systems in mind, for example.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Oh, I wasn't talking about stuff like that.

I had highways, railways and transit systems in mind, for example.

I saw your comment and started smiling.
I was like, “I knew it! Jacques was talking about transportation infrastructure.”
Yea the ones in Scandinavian countries,

[milomilo]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Oh, I wasn't talking about stuff like that.

I had highways, railways and transit systems in mind, for example.

There was always a lot of talk about how the Spanish HSR system was vastly overbuilt as well as abandoned airports.

https://www.rfae.org/the-astonishing-abandoned-airports-in-spain/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne...2/Spain-cuts-high-speed-ghost-train.html

Spain's state-controlled rail operator has been forced to axe one of its newest high speed train services after it emerged that the only nine passengers were using it each day.

I highly doubt the Euro will go away. But if the EU is to keep the Euro, and peace, they are going to have to integrate further. You can't properly have a currency union without a shared political destiny.