Additional indications of economic destruction from the shutdown.

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Here are a few articles in the last few days describing the economic catastrophe that is expanding daily as we watch. Estimate is out that one out of four employees in Los Angeles are out of work. Higher education as an industry is in danger.

4/14/20 – American Enterprise Institute – The International Monetary Fund’s coronavirus reality check – The IMF expects a worse downturn than the ‘08/’09 Great Recession.  Global output is expected to have a US$9 trillion loss in output from what would have been expected.

For the US and Europe the loss will be equal to two years worth of economic growth.

4/17/20 – LAist – LA’s Latest Unemployment Numbers Are Staggering. An Estimated 1.3M Jobs Have Already Been Lost – Percent of LA county residents who are employed is estimated at 45%. That is down from 61% in March. The difference is 16%. Divide that by the 61% employed prior month indicates 26% of the people working a month ago are now unemployed. Data is from researchers at USC.

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Additional indications of economic destruction from the shutdown.Read More »

Additional indications of economic destruction from the shutdown. Read More »

Another drastic rise in new unemployment claims.

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Another round of horrible news on the jobs front today. Again a big rise in the ranks of the unemployed.

4/16/20 – Wall Street Journal – U.S. Jobless Claims Top 20 Million Since Start of Shutdowns – initial claims for unemployment benefits tallied 5.2 million last week. Here is the grim recap of the last four weeks:

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Another drastic rise in new unemployment claims.Read More »

Another drastic rise in new unemployment claims. Read More »

Economic damage from shutdown – 4/15.

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A few more articles on damage we are seeing from the economic shutdown.

Guess on California unemployment rate

April 2020 – Eberhardt School of Business, University of Pacific – Initial Estimates of Employment Impacts of Covid-19 Pandemic – The school of business estimates an unemployment rate of 18.8% in California for the month of May 2020.

This is in contrast to 2010 rate of 12.2% and 2019 rate of 4.0%.

Likely increase in bankruptcies

4/13/20 – Washington Examiner – Pandemic likely to exceed Great Recession in number of bankruptcies – Economists from a leftist think tank and a conservative think tank both guess that the  number of bankruptcies from the current shutdown of the economy will exceed the number from the Great Recession.

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Economic damage from shutdown – 4/15.Read More »

Economic damage from shutdown – 4/15. Read More »

News For CPAs During The Pandemic: FASB guidance on leases – 4/14.

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More info for CPAs. FASB releases a Q&Q for lease issues.  Another round of layoffs seems to be appearing.

4/10/20 – FASB published the following Staff Q&A – Topic 842 and topic 840: Accounting for lease concessions related to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic – If this issue affects your clients, you need to read the guidance.

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News For CPAs During The Pandemic: FASB guidance on leases – 4/14.Read More »

News For CPAs During The Pandemic: FASB guidance on leases – 4/14. Read More »

Collateral damage from shutdown.

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The damage from the shutdown of the U.S. economy will be severe. Having ‘flattened the curve’, rapidly expanded hospital capacity, and kicked critical production lines into high gear, it is time open up the economy before the second order impacts cause more health damage and death from the shutdown than from the coronavirus.

(Cross-post from my other blog, Nonprofit Update.)

4/10/20 – originally posted on Medium but was pulled; do a bit of reading and then make your own assessment why the site didn’t want the article to remain visible to the public – Eight Reasons to End the Lockdowns Now – article was written by five medical doctors and one Doctor of Nursing Practice.

The eight reasons:

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Collateral damage from shutdown.Read More »

Collateral damage from shutdown. Read More »

This is what religious freedom looks like.

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(Cross-posted from my other blog, Freedom is Moral. Originally posted on 3/3/13. Will repost and slightly update today.)

Yesterday one-third of the people on the planet celebrated the most holy day of their faith – Easter.

Yesterday was just another Sunday for two-thirds of the people on the planet.

As I understand it, this upcoming Thursday marks the last day of Passover, a high point of the Jewish faith (Updated for 2020).  Passover celebrates the exodus from slavery as Moses led the people of Israel toward the promised land. For those reading this blog who are Jews, from the bottom of my heart I sincerely hope you have a wonderful and blessed time of celebration.

For everyone else, I sincerely hope you had a relaxing weekend, maybe got to sleep in late. I’m quite serious. I hope you had a nice, fun, refreshing weekend. (Update to 2020: Or, more precisely, I hope you got to do as much relaxing as you could while under stay-at-home orders.)

Here’s what religious freedom looks like:

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This is what religious freedom looks like.Read More »

This is what religious freedom looks like. Read More »

He is risen! Allelluia!

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Mary Magdalene, Mary, & Salom walking up to the bright empty tomb of Jesus Christ early Sunday morning, Showing Golgotha in the background. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

More songs to enjoy as we continue to celebrate the risen Lord:

 

Crown Him with Many Crowns

Recorded at Westminster Abbey.

[youtube=https://youtu.be/3kPkjghup8E]

 

Lyrics: Crown Him with Many Crowns

 

  I know that My Redeemer Lives

Job 19:25-27 from the New International Version (NIV):

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He is risen! Allelluia!Read More »

He is risen! Allelluia! Read More »

Blessed Easter to you! He is risen!

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He is risen!

He is risen indeed!

 

Here’s a selection of videos to help your celebration on this most wonderful day, even though we be worshiping apart due to the coronavirus pandemic, nothing shall ever stop the good news:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=dT7dGcsrPkQ]

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Blessed Easter to you! He is risen!Read More »

Blessed Easter to you! He is risen! Read More »

Jerusalem Daily Reporter, Sunday pre-sunrise edition: “Jesus of Nazareth, Enemy Of The State, Executed For Treason”

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News flash from 4/5/15: 

Jerry Bowyer has the report from Jerusalem. It is in the very early edition of today’s paper. Apparently that seditious rabble-rouser from Nazareth got his just due Friday past when the Sanhedrin and Roman government both agreed to address treason as treason ought be addressed.

The article’s first paragraph,

Jesus of Nazareth was executed today on the orders of the Roman State. Method of execution: Crucifixion. The charge under Roman law was treason, and under Herodian law blasphemy against the Temple. The evidence against this anarchist was so strong that authorities of both the Roman State and the Kingdom of Herod concurred with the arrest and execution, and he was subjected to trial by both governments. And in a rare uprising of spontaneous collective justice, the mass of people who were gathered for Passover called for his execution as well. The mob affirmed their loyalty to the state, chanting, “We have no king but Caesar.”

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Jerusalem Daily Reporter, Sunday pre-sunrise edition: “Jesus of Nazareth, Enemy Of The State, Executed For Treason”Read More »

Jerusalem Daily Reporter, Sunday pre-sunrise edition: “Jesus of Nazareth, Enemy Of The State, Executed For Treason” Read More »

Other damage from pandemic

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Tornado damage. Image courtesy of
Adobe Stock.

Warnings are surfacing about the damage from the stay-at-home orders.  There are mental health repercussions from isolation.  There are also negative health implications from rapidly dropping income and disappearing wealth, such as missed medical screening and delayed or skipped treatment.

4/9/20 – Wall Street Journal – Coronavirus Pandemic Takes Toll On Mental Health – Article describes how the forced isolation and disruptions are starting to cause distress in terms of mental health. There will be a severe Ripple effect from the stay-at-home orders and shutting down the economy.

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Other damage from pandemicRead More »

Other damage from pandemic Read More »

News For CPAs During The Pandemic: AICPA guidance on accounting, reporting, and auditing – 4/10

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Guidance from AICPA can help with financial reporting and auditing. Also, there is a need for COBOL programmers.

If you had not noticed, the California Society of CPAs is offering a lot of CPE webcasts on tax and auditing issues during the pandemic. Many of them are free. Yeah, no charge CPE. How ‘bout that?

4/8/20 – Journal of Accountancy – AICPA issues audit and accounting guidance FAQs on COVID-19 – The AICPA published a 21 page document on accounting and audit issues: Audit Matters and Auditor Reporting Issues Related to COVID?19. 

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News For CPAs During The Pandemic: AICPA guidance on accounting, reporting, and auditing – 4/10Read More »

News For CPAs During The Pandemic: AICPA guidance on accounting, reporting, and auditing – 4/10 Read More »

Economic news: Surge in new unemployment claims; unemployment rate starting to rise.

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Another huge jump in new unemployment claims. The rise in count of people without work is barely starting to show in the unemployment rate.

It would be wise to start watching the economic stats more closely than usual.

4/9/20 – CNBC – US weekly jobless claims jump by 6.6 million and we’ve now lost 10% of workforce in three weeks – Another surge in new unemployment claims announced today. Here is a recap:

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Economic news: Surge in new unemployment claims; unemployment rate starting to rise.Read More »

Economic news: Surge in new unemployment claims; unemployment rate starting to rise. Read More »

Guidance from SBA for faith-based charities applying for PPP loans.

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If you are in leadership or on the finance team of a faith-based not-for-profit organization, you really, really need to read the Faith-Based Organizations FAQ From The Small Business Administration:

(Cross-post from my other blog, Nonprofit Update.)

The document is dated 4/3/20.

Read this document if you have applied or are thinking about applying for a loan under the Paycheck Protection Program.

An issue in the back of many people’s mind is whether any federal assistance under this program will infringe on religious freedom. I think you will be quite pleasantly surprised by reading the FAQ.

Please read the article. You might want to make a copy for your file.

Guidance from SBA for faith-based charities applying for PPP loans. Read More »

Articles for CPAs during the pandemic: Expect delay in lease effective date for private companies and NFPs – 4/9

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Big news from FASB yesterday. They are planning to postpone the new lease rules for private companies and most not-for-profit entities.

4/8/20 – Journal of Accountancy – FASB effective date delay proposals to include private company lease accounting and Wall Street Journal – FASB Proposes Delaying New Accounting Rules for Some Companies Because of Coronavirus – FASB is moving towards a deferral of revenue recognition that applies to a very narrow slice of companies. Also moving toward a deferral of new lease accounting for private companies and private not-for-profit organizations.

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Articles for CPAs during the pandemic: Expect delay in lease effective date for private companies and NFPs – 4/9Read More »

Articles for CPAs during the pandemic: Expect delay in lease effective date for private companies and NFPs – 4/9 Read More »

Economic damage from pandemic is severe and will continue to be severe.

Leave a Comment / Economics, Pondering /
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We are starting to see some guesses about the economic damage from the shutdowns driven by the pandemic.

When you read about the 10 million people who have filed for unemployment in the last two weeks and consider there will be millions more and the unemployment will continue for another month or two, ponder the ripple effects.

That shock of unemployment translates into cars not purchased, summer & Christmas vacations not taken, conferences not attended, college enrollment delayed a year, fancy wedding receptions never planned, and house renovations postponed by a decade.

4/5/20 – Wall Street Journal – State Shutdowns Have Taken at Least a Quarter of U.S. Economy Offline – Study by Moody’s Analytics estimates that 29% of the U.S. economy has shut down. That is the estimated drop in output we have already seen.

Some of the staggeringly dangerous hits to U.S. output and wealth:

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Economic damage from pandemic is severe and will continue to be severe.Read More »

Economic damage from pandemic is severe and will continue to be severe. Read More »