In the novel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, Mister Micawber gave young Copperfield a piece of advice that may exceed in prescience the cumulative wisdom of all treatises ever written on the subject of home economics.
“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
The blossom is blighted, the leaf is withered, the God of day goes down upon the dreary scene, and-and in short you are for ever floored. As I am.”
In order to underscore the grave and serious nature of his contention, Mr. Micawber then drank a glass of punch with an air of great enjoyment and satisfaction, and whistled the college hornpipe.
As shown in 2020 because of COVID-19, excessive debt can be ruinous, destroying households and business enterprises alike. Government in the U.S. at state and local levels also has been devastated by debt. Meanwhile, along lines of whistling the college hornpipe the federal government continues to thrive despite adding trillions of dollars to an ever growing mountain of debt that already exceeded 20 trillion dollars at the beginning of this year. The difference is that Congress can appropriate funding for emergency purposes while the Federal Reserve can purchase debt instruments, lower interest rates, and print money.
Even when Congress is unable to reach agreement on additional sources of pandemic-related funding, as mentioned in the previous issue of this newsletter, the nation’s president can sign executive orders that influence the flow of money and other policies. During the month of August 2020, President Donald Trump released a series of orders that include: a payroll tax deferral for workers, provision of weekly federal jobless benefits, expansion of a congressionally-approved eviction moratorium that expired in July 2020, relief for student borrowers, increased access to telehealth, support for rural hospitals, and the production of more drugs made in America while loosening federal drug-safety and environmental regulations that are perceived as placing domestic producers at a disadvantage.
Similar to previous years when Congress is unable to complete work on 13 separate appropriation bills by the start of a new fiscal year each October 1, to avoid an impending shutdown one or more short-term continuing resolutions (CRs) are implemented. Currently envisioned is a stopgap spending measure that would be effective until December 11. Despite it being an election year that will reduce the amount of time available to pass other bills while House and Senate members are on the campaign trail, the House Energy and Commerce Committee was able to consider 26 health bills during a September 9 markup that involved expanding access to mental health services, combating the opioid epidemic, and reauthorizing key public health programs. The vast majority of more than 8,349 House bills (1,037 for health) and 4,656 Senate bills (585 for health) introduced in the 116th Congress as of September 22, 2020 will not be passed and enacted, but could be reintroduced beginning next year.
More September 2020 TRENDS Articles
A QUASI-CATEGORICAL DEMURRAL
indicates that it is too soon to understand the full implications and overall impact of COVID-19. Read More
WHISTLING THE COLLEGE HORNPIPE
contains information about advantages the federal government possesses in developing financial responses to the coronavirus pandemic. Read More
HEALTH REFORM DEVELOPMENTS
Points out how despite a decline in poverty rates, the ability to access health care remains difficult for some population subgroups while at the same time insufficient attention is paid by policymakers regarding the adequacy of the health workforce. Read More
DEVELOPMENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Describes how once again reauthorization of the Higher Education Act failed to occur; the issuance of final regulations for distance education and innovation; and how the U.S. Department of Education is rescinding several guidance documents. Read More
QUICK STAT (SHORT, TIMELY, AND TOPICAL)
Delaying Or Avoiding Health Care During The Pandemic Because Of Concerns About COVID-19
Trends And Patterns In Menarche In The United States: 1995 Through 2013–2017
Machine Learning Maps Research Needs In Coronavirus Literature
Rapid Blood Test Could Detect Brain Injury In Minutes Read More
AVAILABLE RESOURCES ACCESSIBLE ELECTRONICALLY
Scorecard On State Health System Performance
Racial Disparities In Cancer
The State of Obesity 2020: Better Policies For A Healthier America Read More
COMPOSITION AND CAPACITY OF THE GENETICS WORKFORCE
discusses how the clinical genetics workforce likely will face greatly increased demand for its services. Read More
THE NEUROBIOLOGY OF SOCIAL DISTANCE
refers to the neurocognitive basis of social isolation and its deep consequences for mental and physical health, along with neurobiological mechanisms underlying social interplay and the impact that social deprivation has on them. Read More