love* in the time of plague (and by love* i mean brexit* and other dreary matters of uk politics)

well, yeah

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/02/15/business/15-MONOPOLY-JP1/15-MONOPOLY-JP1-jumbo.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp

xps to mark

'The big idea of the 1990s that “the economy” will serve as a regulating superego of our politics is a busted flush. ... we should now never tire of asking: which economic constraints are real and which imagined?' @adam_tooze on top form https://t.co/xS5iceaZzq

— David Edgerton (@DEHEdgerton) March 20, 2020

Tooze says C-19 will be a paradigm shift.

the big essay i've been working on -- abt a very specific shift in music and technology from the late 1950s to the early 1970s -- has become weirdly disorientating over the last week, when i've basically just been trying to tidy up the editor's final queries

on one hand, it is soothing to be thinking about something that the horrible present doesn't really touch

one the other hand, this isn't really true! every time i take a step back to reorientate my context for a sense of how history flowed through this time, and towards what, i get this really intense sensation of "literally none of yr mid-level value judgments apply any more dude"

things shifting so rapidly at my work; it's a bit disorienting. glad I'm not at the coalface having to factor in all of the re-planning, implementing BCP, working up revised financials etc. I'm in a privileged position and see quite a lot of data for senior people in the business. some of the internal MI is

insert the emoji for 'my mouth is opening and closing and opening and no sound is coming out' there

which economic constraints are real and which imagined?

This is the heart of it really isn't it?

once you've been down the yellow brick road and past the magic money tree and see the hairy fat arse of the wizard of oz, there is no way back!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6FVk2k4qsM

A small transport operation, but one close to the Prime Minister’s heart, has fallen victim to the coronavirus.

The Emirates Air Line – the east London cable car built on the instructions of the then mayor, Boris Johnson – will stop operating indefinitely from tomorrow

🐦[’The big idea of the 1990s that “the economy” will serve as a regulating superego of our politics is a busted flush. ... we should now never tire of asking: which economic constraints are real and which imagined?’ @adam_tooze🕸 on top form https://t.co/xS5iceaZzq🕸
— David Edgerton (@DEHEdgerton) March 20, 2020🕸]🐦

Tooze says C-19 will be a paradigm shift.

he's taking a long time to get around to the punchline here

pubs cafes and bars to close tonight

fucking finally

"we are all in this together" says the man with a literal nuclear bunker for him and his colleagues.

PROTECT THE NHS is our new three-worder, Dom earning his crust at last

phew, in under the wire

https://t.co/688Ob1Cf8c pic.twitter.com/crlRfnDLem

— Loki (@Lokinash06) March 20, 2020

lool!

No limit on funding for scheme https://t.co/CD4nDFXkLB

— Nick Eardley (@nickeardleybbc) March 20, 2020

all shops apart from supermarkets and pharmacies to shut

this seems good, if late xp is that right about shops?

... cafes, bars, pubs and restaurants must close tonight. Nightclubs, theatres, gyms, cinemas and leisure centres must also close on the same timescale.

BoE going to need a bigger bazooka

NEW #Coronavirus job retention scheme.

HMRC grants to cover most of the wages.

Will cover 80% of salaries of workers of up to £2,500 a month.

Will be open for 3 months. Can extend. NO limit on the funding going into the scheme

— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) March 20, 2020

not only does Tim Weatherspoon have the Oblivion face but i can hear him doing the voice

Lol vat cancelled

Why 80%?

how's that gonna work for the self-employed?

Self assessment cancelled for a year ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

and how does this work for people who've been laid off since the government started fucking up their response to this?

there are gonna be millions of newly unemployed and these cunts are fretting about tax. riot time.

My boss has just gone from "fuck this incompetent government" to "Incredible employment scheme for everyone. What a fantastic government we have I must say. Awfully touched" - this is a verbatim quote, btw, smh.

wondering if I can somehow finagle this so the gov will pay me more than the SSP I'm currently barely living on.

Welfare spending has been cut by £37bn over the last decade.

The £7bn increase the chancellor has just announced is a small step in the right direction but not nearly enough to protect the poorest and most vulnerable.

— Jonathan Bartley (@jon_bartley) March 20, 2020

The 80% of salaries thing is a big relief but at the same time several days too late.

now that we've adopted fully automated luxury gay space communism, all boris needs to do is stop tens of thousands of people dying in understaffed, under-resourced hospitals and he'll be fine... bojo, over to you

huge if true

Wtf pic.twitter.com/WWvY98H2zR

— Will Joseph Cook (@WillJosephCook) March 19, 2020

Important note - have asked Number 10 and shops WILL NOT be closing. The PM listed a number of outlets which will including gyms, bars, restaurants etc. Shops will not be included. The Chancellor made a slip there.

— Kate McCann (@KateEMcCann) March 20, 2020

ah, sorry for misinformation

Yeah we need to still be able to buy scented candles and CDs

Sunak says the measures for casual workers are related to their earnings as recorded on PAYE - so assuming it’s based on average earnings?

and how does this work for people who've been laid off since the government started fucking up their response to this?

Backdated to March 1st apparently.

god the Sunak love out there is unhinged. Never trust a Tory.

It's almost like the privileged bourgeoisie don't need much excuse to rally round a Tory

Self-employed workers have only been guaranteed *£94.25* a week - a big loophole in promise of economic protection.

— George Eaton (@georgeeaton) March 20, 2020

this "we ask people to think about that" bollocks from him is wearing incredibly thin

Lol the friends I would expect to go mental about the pub closures are currently going mental about the pub closures

Nothing for ppl on zero hours

VAT just deferred

Still nowhere near enough for renters in this announcement from Rishi Sunak. Raising LHA rates to 30th percentile means benefits still wouldn’t cover full cost of rent for a great many London renters affected by #covid19

— Tom Copley (@tomcopley) March 20, 2020

od the Sunak love out there is unhinged. Never trust a Tory.
― stet, Friday, March 20, 2020 5:34 PM (twenty-three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

lmao he's not doing all these bazookas out the good of his heart. lad's staring into the teeth of a depression. expect more to come still