Ok, so when COVID hit we basically flipped a switch and turned the economy off. And then as we discovered and distributed an amazingly effective vaccine (which was an incredible accomplishment), we then flipped the switch back on.
And in all of this, every company, every individual, was making decisions, often very impactful decisions, based on how they thought this would play out. And most of those decisions were wrong. This had never happened before and so we were all guessing.
On a personal note, I was the CEO of Windward Studios at the time and this was incredibly stressful. When COVID became real for everyone we stopped getting inquiries. The sales funnel froze. Nothing new coming in and no communication with prospects. Fortunately, 3 weeks later, it started back up for us. It was iffy at times but the PPP allowed us to continue with no lay-offs.
So then when it turned back on, almost all the economists told us that we were going to have a recession, significant unemployment, numerous parts of the economy would take forever to recover, and more. In short - it was going to be awful.
And instead, they accomplished the impossible. A full recovery. All the parts of the supply chain honked up due to cancelling orders for items now needed, all the industries where they assumed no business going forward for years suddenly having to staff back up, all the mess - all of that was worked out in 18 months.
There has been no recession. We remain at full employment. Many people have moved up to better jobs. Four years ago every economist would guarantee that it could never play out this well. And it did!
Major congrats to the Federal Reserve, both the Trump (due in large part to Donald Trump mostly leaving it to Mnuchin) and Biden Administrations, and Congress. They all, making major guesses throughout all of this, accomplished the impossible.
And the reaction of most people - complaints that we got inflation. Yes inflation and high interest rates are a major problem for people. Yes this needs to be addressed. But would it kill people to take a breath, and for one fucking second, acknowledge what was pulled off and how amazing it is?