When the Free Market met the Coronavirus

By Tom Payyappilly

The author tries to explain with the example of the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020 how capitalism is not the best system in every situation. When confronted with a non-economic catastrophe such as this hugely contagious disease, the free market broke down and the entire world's economy has practically shut down. In these sort of situations, strong government intervention is necessary, not just to solve the immediate health crisis, but also to bring the economy back to life and safeguard the welfare of millions of people worldwide who lost their jobs.
This book is not totally anti-capitalism, but its goal is to highlight some problems with unfettered capitalism, and to point out that the markets are not as free as people may think. It is organized as eight chapters with each chapter's title posing a provocative rhetorical question, which at first glance may seem to have an obvious answer. But the chapter points out some of the inherent contradictions and double-standards when looking through eyeglasses worn by a capitalist and champion of free markets. Thereby it makes arguments to prove that the answer to the question posed in the title may not be so obvious after all.
As mentioned in the concluding chapter, the goal of the book is to make the reader question some of the notions he or she may have grown up on and always believed. It is necessary to think outside one's normal range and look at the big picture for the global community to tackle even bigger problems in the future such as climate change and environmental harm.

This book is a mixture of topics spanning across economics, human behavior, politics and philosophy. It is the author's own, independent views and not influenced by any particular ideology or political belief. The author is registered as an independent voter, and the goal of this book is not to favor some particular politician or party.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tom Payyappilly
• Release date: Apr 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463288245

Tom Payyappilly

Tom Payyappilly is a computer engineer who has worked in the software industry for over two decades. He currently lives in California, USA, and works for a large semiconductor company. He has been granted more than 100 patents worldwide in the telecommunications field. He writes part-time on world issues, philosophy and other matters of interest to him.

Book preview

When the Free Market met the Coronavirus

Ajith Tom Payyappilly

Published by Ajith Tom Payyappilly

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2020 Ajith Tom Payyappilly

[Case # 1-8759336111 pending at US Copyright office]

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Contents

Introduction

Question1: Should corporate welfare and bailouts take place?

Question2: Is a rent strike a good idea?

Question3: Should it be a free market in medical supplies and hospitals?

Question4: Is low price of oil a good thing?

Question5: Is dense urban living a good idea?

Question6: Is immigration a good idea?

Question7: In a society, should there be solidarity?

Question8: Does individual liberty go too far?

Conclusion

Epilogue

About the author

Introduction

In the winter of 2019 a novel coronavirus, later given the official name COVID-19, emerged from the city of Wuhan in Hubei Province of China. At first, the local authorities and people in general did not understand the seriousness of this new illness. It spread like wildfire and soon the hospitals of Wuhan were overwhelmed with sick and dying people. Once it was brought to the attention of the Central Government of China, they took decisive action and locked down the entire city of Wuhan. It’s 11 million residents were ordered to stay at home, all transportation links to the city were cut off except for bringing in food, medical supplies and other essentials. Soon, the government had to extend these measures to the whole Hubei province impacting almost 50 million people!

At the time, the Western press and many governments criticized China, saying these measures were draconian and can only happen in a dictatorship. Little did they know that their own countries would have to go through such draconian measures themselves in a couple of months. By the time of Chinese New Year in early February, almost the whole country China was shut down. The government extended the New Year holidays by another couple of weeks and even after the holiday they asked most people to work from home for a few more months. The other countries of the world should have realized by now this disease was really bad. However, most of the world still did not take it seriously enough. Many people were of the opinion it is just like flu. A minority of people, especially old people may develop serious complications and some may die, but the vast majority of people will not be affected was the popular opinion. They grossly underestimated the extent of damage this virus would cause. Partly because of the lack of quick, decisive action on the part of governments throughout the world, but also due to the interconnectedness of the world today, the disease spread to many countries and tens of thousands of people died in Europe, the United States and Asia.

Some countries were affected more than others. As people and governments realized the extent of the carnage, most countries implemented the same sort of strict measures that helped China overcome the disease. By the time of this writing in April 2020, most of the world was shut down and staying at home – schools, colleges, workplaces, etc. There was a run on grocery stores, with customers emptying shelves to stock up on essential supplies and food in the event of a protracted shut down. Online ordering was clogged. Some items like hand sanitizers, toilet paper, Clorox wipes, and other cleaning disinfectants were sold out. They were selling on Ebay for many times the regular price in some cases. The stock market dropped over 30%. Unemployment skyrocketed, from what was the lowest unemployment rate in half a century to the worst on record, with entire service and hospitality industries laying off or furloughing workers. The government has passed bi-partisan bills to provide stimulus payments to Americans and stimulate the economy and save companies of all types, be it big companies such