My son and I went to the nearest sushi restaurant.
Restaurants in greater Seattle area are now allowed to welcome about 50% of the customers allowed in the shop. And they have a reservation system.
They require you to wear a mask when you enter the restaurant, and you have to take a temperature test.
According to my familiar waitress, for the past few months, the business itself has been a take-out order only. She continued to work, but she was working a few shortened days a week. She is still earning more money and worked fewer hours than before because she was given leave compensation from US government.
Unemployment benefits in the U.S., in addition to the amount assessed from their regular paycheck, are paid as a special leave of absence benefit due to corona for a week. You have been given $600. If you can't work even one day a week, this $600 is still guaranteed, so the total could be more than before. There are quite many people who receive combined salaries more in this way.
Without exception, the Japanese people I've met so far have said, "I'm sorry" in that case, and they feel guilty about it. They give me an embarrassed smile that pushes me away.
I've told them every time, "You don't have to feel sorry.
You have nothing to feel sorry for. It's a sluggish economy and I hope you make good use of what you've been given and use the income to pay for your expenses. I've said, "If you turn it around, you'll contribute to the economy of the whole country.
If our government prints $600 a week on a rotary press for all American workers, there will be no inflation. Inflation is a phenomenon that occurs when there is a passing oversupply in the balance of supply and demand. The U.S. dollar is the world's reserve currency and the United States is not the only country to use it. In the reality that almost the entire world has a demand for the US dollar, that degree of oversupply will not be enough.
Today, the sky in Seattle was completely covered with thick clouds that prevented us from seeing the sunset. But my daughter, who is staying at a hotel a few hundred meters across the ocean on the Canadian border, told me that the sunset was bright red. Her sunset sky was reported by sending a video at the same time.
It is true that the economy and social activities have been closed off by the corona disaster. At the same time, however, the sense of stagnation is breaking down if we change our perspective.