Letters to my readers
April 2, 2020
Dear readers,
In these trying times caused by the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, I would like to express my deepest condolences to all those who have lost loved ones due to this massive catastrophe.
I would also like to acknowledge the loss of people’s jobs, which is already causing multiple difficulties at different levels. According to USA Today Money in a piece written by Paul Davidson and dated March 31st, 2020, there is a projected 32.1% of unemployment for the second quarter of this year in the U.S., much higher than that of the Great Depression, which reached a 25% in 1948. They are estimating that 47 million people will lose their jobs, based on jobs that need close proximity interactions. This projection came originally from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’s blog. The two-trillion-dollar stimulus package approved by the government has not been put into effect yet, so we still don’t know how it will alleviate people’s suffering, or if it will actually help individuals and small businesses.
I had the opportunity to travel to Japan this past November 2019. And no, we didn’t get sick. Nobody in my company got sick, despite the fact that we ate in different restaurants and attended big public gatherings in Tokyo and in Kyoto. The Japanese are wonderful, hard-working people. If you go to my blog, you’ll see that I’ve dedicated three of my essays to that experience. They are ToKyoTokyo Series Part I, ToKyoTokyo Series Part II, and ToKyoTokyo Series Part III.
In view of the postponement of the Olympics that were going to take place in July of this year in that country, I would like to dedicate my observations to all those who were planning to travel to Japan this year for that event, and to all those who were planning to watch them on TV. They postponed them until July 2021, but they still are going to call them the 2020 Olympics to avoid confusion in the future.
I hope that these terrible times we are experiencing around the world help governments realize the real value of their countries is their people—among them millions of women. If people are sick, can’t go to work, and if they can’t produce, they are left unable to consume. And in countries like the U.S., approximately 70% of all economic growth is based on consumption.
Above all, I would like to express my gratitude to everybody staying at home right now to help stop the spread of this virus. I wish you and your family a safe, healthy life, or at least one in vie of a prompt recovery.
