“…through no fault of their own.”
These six words fall habitually from the mouths of our Federal Reserve and Treasury department in describing the predicament many businesses and households find themselves in during this COVID-19 pandemic.
I think the intent of “TNFOTO” is to offer comfort and hope to the millions of struggling businesses and now jobless workforce. Our government seems to genuinely want to help, and this shifting of liability may assuage some.
But is it really no fault of our own?
If I get smashed by a semi-truck while riding my bike, it’s certainly not my fault. If I get crushed by bus while driving to work, again not my fault.
But what if I wasn’t wearing a helmet? What if I had neglected to use my seat belt? Is it my fault, then?
Clearly moral culpability lies with the other party in both these examples, but what responsibility do I bear for my lack of prudence and neglect of safety? A lot.
Today, in the words of Buffet, we’re witnessing “the tide going out and we’re seeing who is swimming with no clothes on.” We find that public companies and small businesses alike do not even have one or two months worth of expenses in the bank to weather a crisis.
Granted, this pandemic is no ordinary crisis. Perhaps it could not have been predicted (or perhaps, it could have). My heart truly breaks for thousands of small businesses that will never reopen due to devastation of the coronavirus.
But in a way, it’s all of our faults, isn’t it? A lack of savings that starts with the example of our federal government, trickles down to our corporate citizens and ends with the paltry purse strings of the American consumer. What’s clear is that there is no buffer. No savings. No roof to weather to storm.
Why save when we have artificially low interests rates rigged by the Fed? There will always be cheap capital, right?
And as we witness our government swoop in to prop up wall street and main street (in that order), we hear a message that’s loud and clear: It’s not your fault. Keep on keeping on. Business as usual. We’ve got your back.
Until they don’t…