Written by: Elizabeth Salas Evans, President & CCO at Cayena Capital Management; MFF Visiting Scholar
May 13, 2020
The United States (U.S.) has now exceeded eighty thousand deaths due to COVID-19, as states continue to reopen in order to capitalize on any opportunity to become productive during a pandemic. The evolution of the Trump Administration’s Laissez faire model is beginning to take shape. Leading the charge, according to Business Insider, Georgia, the state of Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation, reported over sixty thousand out-of-state visitors after it had announced their reopening. Yesterday, Georgia also announced they have been confronted with a potential shortage in hospital beds, as they experience a surge in COVID-19 cases. This morning, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) printed an anemic increase of one third of a percent, with applications to purchase a home surging ten-point six percent and refinance applications declining another three-point three percent. This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) published the Producer Price Indexes (PPI) for April 2020. As anticipated, the U.S. saw further contraction with PPI declining one-point three percent in April, the largest decline since the inception of data collection with regards to PPI. Tomorrow’s jobless claims are estimated to add another two and a half million to the already thirty-three million Americans out of work.
With so much uncertainty, one thing is clear: things will not be what they once were before COVID. “If you’re always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be.” – Maya Angelou
