The Personal (Selfish) Economics of Reopening the Economy

Economics, at its very basics, is about human decision making. You may have been miffed by the supply and demand charts thinking economics was all abstract theories and equations. It’s not. Boiled down, economics equals human decision making.

Our choices are almost always based on seeking benefit or avoiding pain. In other words, humans do what they’re incentivized to do, whether the incentive is a carrot (benefit) or a stick (pain).

So it goes with opinions on reopening the economy — your support for, or opposition to, reopening depends entirely on your incentive. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found that 40 percent of us are ready to open things up.

Small Biz Supports ReOpening

Small business people and sole proprietors such as myself, are ready to get back to work.

We support reopening out of personal economics. Our current revenue is at or near zero. Some of us are losing — or already lost — our life’s work. Now you understand our incentive.

Presumably, many in favor of a rapid reopening are business owners, self employed, or gig workers. But small business and self employed types account for only about 50 to 60 million Americans.

All Opposed, Say Why

The number of Americans with little or no personal economic incentive to reopen dwarfs the small business community. They include government employees and the unemployed, which roughly equal the number of small businesspeople.

Between federal, state, and local, there are 22 million government employees in America, not counting military.

Add to the number of government workers those being paid by the government to not work.

Typically, unemployed folks would be supportive of reopening the economy. But this is where personal economics reign supreme — many American workers have discovered they can earn a LOT more income sitting at home watching Netflix than by working.

This is due to the misguided federal program paying a $600 weekly unemployment bonus. Add that to the state unemployment check — $390 per week in my home state of Indiana. Almost $1,000 a week? Not bad for binge watching “The Crown” eh?

We’re approaching 30 million Americans on unemployment. Most of them are experiencing a hefty pay raise to be unemployed — last year’s median annual income (half earned more, half less) was around $33,000.

Unless you earned upwards of $50,000 per year pre-pandemic — and most workers didn’t — you’re not in big hurry to get back to work. It doesn’t make personal economic sense to do so.

I Support Reopening NOW But I Can’t Change Your Mind

Of course the polls find a majority opposed to reopening. Because a majority aren’t financially hemorrhaging. On top of government employees and the unemployed are millions of other workers whose lives have been altered, yet their income hasn’t varied.

If your income remains the same and you’ve got more time for jigsaw puzzles with the kids while “working” from home, what’s the hurry? If it’s not your self-made business going bankrupt, you’re simply not as concerned. And if unemployment yields a pay raise, why go back to the grind?

I can make the case a thousand different ways for why we must open up — from the wrecked lives to the devastation on Main Street to the dignity of work versus welfare to issues of American vulnerability in an unstable world.

But I can’t change your mind. I learned a long time ago that economics is about human decision making. You’ll support reopening the American economy when you stand to gain by doing so, or stand to lose by not doing so.

My hope is that when those opposed to reopening our (formerly amazing) economy finally come around, we have an economy to come back to.

Damian Mason is a Businessman, Speaker, Author, Podcaster, and Farm Owner. For interviews, speaking engagements, books, or videos, go to www.damianmason.com