Scary, But Accurate

Ezra Klein notes we might be headed for a depression.

This does feel a little like the "Fed Recession" of 1980-82, where the Federal Reserve hiked rates up to a huge level to kill inflation (that was largely a product of high fuel prices anyway). Once the Fed lowered rates, the economy launched a boom during the '80s that created the Reagan Coalition.

If we are lucky, we can get the virus under control by mid-summer and life can return mostly to normal.  But the economic effects of this will be longer lasting. Even with a "V" shaped recovery, it will be next winter or spring before things get back to normal economically.