We must reopen quickly so life can flow again – anger due to worsened economic conditions and pent-up frustrations and energies have produced a lot of stresses and created a range of heightened problems for society like carjacking and hate crimes.
I don’t think increased anti-Asian incidents are only about the virus – the perception that immigrants, especially hard working and successful immigrants, are competitors and take away jobs has run deep in American history. The pandemic exacerbates the situation and brings it out into the open.
The administration should aim to not only help recover jobs lost due to the pandemic but do more to strive at 100% employment and all with decent pay. Although racism is not an economic issue and needs to be addressed in multiple fronts, improving economic well-being for every disadvantaged group and all individuals should help.
We may forget about GDP – what’s the point to have high GDP that does not eliminate and may even aggravate social ills? Actually if everybody is working, we will do fine with GDP.
Think about this: a student is more likely to get a good grade for a class if he/she has learning in the mind as a goal rather than narrowly focusing on getting a good grade.
By the way, I have always thought economics and sociology should belong to the same department in universities.