Ex Pfizer chief executive talks about Covid

[HolgateCorner]

The whole point of the furlough payments was to take the pressure off businesses to prevent them making people unemployed.

How does furlough "disguise the unemployment figures"

You have answered your own question?

’to prevent them making people unemployed’.

I’m not trying to make any kind of deep point here, just stating that shutting down the economy inevitably will get rid of millions of jobs, furlough disguised that consequence of locking down.

 

[Scrote]

shutting down the economy inevitably will get rid of millions of jobs, furlough disguised that consequence of locking down

You're using the word "disguise" when you should be using the word "prevent".

They have different definitions for a reason.

I'm not arguing that furlough worked, either. Just that the point of furlough was to prevent job losses by supporting businesses and employees through an unprecedented period,

If you've lost your job then you shouldn't be receiving furlough payments - there's nothing to disguise.

Perhaps(!) more should have been done, and more quickly, but the necessity of shutting down due to the pandemic is, outside of a few cranks, accepted.

I'd be careful not to conflate political inaction with some sort of pre-destined cause/effect bringing us to where we are now.

 

[HolgateCorner]

You're using the word "disguise" when you should be using the word "prevent".

They have different definitions for a reason.

I'm not arguing that furlough worked, either. Just that the point of furlough was to prevent job losses by supporting businesses and employees through an unprecedented period,

If you've lost your job then you shouldn't be receiving furlough payments - there's nothing to disguise.

Perhaps(!) more should have been done, and more quickly, but the necessity of shutting down due to the pandemic is, outside of a few cranks, accepted.

I'd be careful not to conflate political inaction with some sort of pre-destined cause/effect bringing us to where we are now.

I think your response is more complicated than my point.

The economy, rightly or wrongly, was shut down due to the virus.

If businesses had to shut temporarily albeit through no fault of their own then those workers were unemployed, there was no work for them to do.

The furlough scheme has disguised the actual unemployment figures caused by the lockdowns.

 

[Randy]

It was brought in to stop the country been set on fire.

 

[Johngannonsunderpants]

I guess we’ll find out in the long run - the idea that healthy young people, children in particular need a vaccine to protect them from something that has zero effect on them is just nuts

My kids are 7 & 8 and were quite poorly. Where is that reported other than here right now. My 8 year old was ill on and off for a few weeks.