Economic Conditions - Nashville, TN, U.S., Global

[markhollin]

Metro Public Health Department officials reported 451 new cases of COVID since Wednesday, bringing the countywide confirmed case count to 41,367. Of those cases, 337 people have died.

As of Thursday morning, 13 percent of all inpatient beds and 9 percent of ICU beds in Middle Tennessee were available. The city’s transmission rate, 14-day new case trend and rate of new cases per 100,000 residents remain at what public health officials define as “unsatisfactory."

Cooper limits private, public gatherings to eight people

Mayor John Cooper on Thursday announced stricter limits on public and private social gatherings in Davidson County to be effective starting Monday. 

Gatherings of more than eight people are now restricted, down from 25 allowed in phase three of the city’s reopening plan. The move comes as contact tracing investigations find transmission of the virus is occurring largely in unregulated, private gatherings and as Thanksgiving approaches next week. 

In a press briefing on Thursday, Cooper said that “hospitals across the region are nearing their exhaustion point from a staffing perspective.”  Last week, he said if hospitals reach their capacity limit Metro will have to impose stricter rules.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also released guidance asking people not to travel for the holidays. The mayor echoed this call, asking residents to reconsider any plans to gather with people outside of their immediate household. 

More at Nashville Post here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/health-care/article/21144604/covid19-update-cooper-limits-gatherings-to-eight-people

[LA_TN]

10 hours ago, ruraljuror said:

Blaming "the media" and "politicians" is so inane it makes me want to pound my head against my desk.

When the person who is ostensibly leading the country (with whom the buck is supposed to stop) continuously refers to the the media  as Fake news for almost 5 years now and regularly disparages any scientific research that doesn't fit the political agenda du jour, who could have possibly predicted that half the country would heed that leader's words and live by the example that leader sets.  Who among us has the masterful deductive capabilities to untangle that labyrinth-like chain of cause and effect.

First the virus was a hoax, then it was just a handful of cases that we were promised were going to drop to zero in a couple of weeks, then the pandemic was going to be over by April, then we were told the country was going to be back to normal by July, then COVID was going to disappear right after the election - just watch - bringing us right back to hoax speculation where we started in the first place.

Instead of blaming the media and politicians generally, maybe we should try just blaming the particular media and the particular politicians who were wrong. 

 

Why blame media/politicians? We're the ones spreading it

[ruraljuror]

11 hours ago, LA_TN said:

Why blame media/politicians? We're the ones spreading it

I agree with you that the politicians and media aren't the only ones to blame here.  My whole point was to emphasize that all politicians and all media figures/outlets are not equally to blame, so if we're going to be blaming politicians and the media then we'd be a lot better off if we focused that blame on the politicians and media who actually were doling out inaccurate and misleading information in the first place. 

That said, are the rest of the non-politician and non-media public to blame for their contribution to the spread of the disease? Yes, of course they are.  But the ICU patients referenced in previous posts who rant about COVID being a hoax with their last pre-intubation breath did not come up with this deeply ingrained/reinforced notion independently on their own - they were just choosing to prioritize information coming from non-credible sources over information coming directly from their own nurses and doctors. 

Us regular folks don't have the same level of access to information or nearly as large of a platform by which to spread that information as politicians and the media do.  As a result, the regular Joe who genuinely trusted the people who were telling them that Covid was no worse than the flu and acted accordingly can't possibly be as blameworthy as the reporter who was responsible for publicly disseminating that misinformation and who benefits directly from the clickbait or as blameworthy as the politician who has access to the best and most up-to-date information and yet downplays the issue for political gain while making some adjustments to their stock portfolio. Certainly the regular Joe in this scenario made a mistake in trusting untrustworthy sources, but that's hardly comparable to the damage done by those in a position of power who knowingly or at the very least negligently spread bad information that other people (somewhat) innocently trusted.  

 

 

 

 

Edited November 20, 2020 by ruraljuror

[titanhog]

10 minutes ago, ruraljuror said:

I agree with you that the politicians and media aren't the only ones to blame here.  My whole point was to emphasize that all politicians and all media figures/outlets are not equally to blame, so if we're going to be blaming politicians and the media then we'd be a lot better off if we focused that blame on the politicians and media who actually were doling out inaccurate and misleading information in the first place. 

That said, are the rest of the non-politician and non-media public to blame for their contribution to the spread of the disease? Yes, of course they are.  But the ICU patients referenced in previous posts who rant about COVID being a hoax with their last pre-intubation breath did not come up with this deeply ingrained/reinforced notion independently on their own - they were just choosing to prioritize information coming from non-credible sources over information coming directly from their own nurses and doctors. 

Us regular folks don't have the same level of access to information or nearly as large of a platform by which to spread that information as politicians and the media do.  As a result, the regular Joe who genuinely trusted the people who were telling them that Covid was no worse than the flu and acted accordingly can't possibly be as blameworthy as the reporter who was responsible for publicly disseminating that misinformation and who benefits directly from the clickbait or as blameworthy as the politician who has access to the best and most up-to-date information and yet downplays the issue for political gain while making some adjustments to their stock portfolio. Certainly the regular Joe in this scenario made a mistake in trusting untrustworthy sources, but that's hardly comparable to the damage done by those in a position of power who knowingly or at the very least negligently spread bad information that other people (somewhat) innocently trusted.  

 

 

 

 

But that goes both ways.  A president refusing to wear a mask was bad.  So are those on the other side planting seeds of doubt on the viability of the vaccine because they were created while that president was in office.  WAY too much political posturing and dumbassery from both sides.

I wear a mask...AND...I'll be glad to get the vaccine...AND...I'm a conservative.  Most of my conservative friends feel the same as I do.

[nashvylle]

11 hours ago, LA_TN said:

Why blame media/politicians? We're the ones spreading it

true, but I'd be a large # of politicians will not abide by their own set of rules. 

[ruraljuror]

23 minutes ago, titanhog said:

But that goes both ways.  A president refusing to wear a mask was bad.  So are those on the other side planting seeds of doubt on the viability of the vaccine because they were created while that president was in office.  WAY too much political posturing and dumbassery from both sides.

I wear a mask...AND...I'll be glad to get the vaccine...AND...I'm a conservative.  Most of my conservative friends feel the same as I do.

I agree with you Titanhog, with the exception that I'm fairly forgiving of people who are skeptical about information coming from Trump, especially when it's public health or medical information after all the erroneous predictions about how/when the virus would disappear and the hydroxychloroquine, bleach injection, etc. recommendations.  As GW once famously said, "There's an old saying in Tennessee...that says fool me once, shame on you....you can't get fooled again."

I also don't recall any prominent Democratic politicians or left-leaning media figures planting seeds of doubt about a possible vaccine, but that's probably my own bias shining through - I'd love to see some examples if you've got any to share. 

 

Edited November 20, 2020 by ruraljuror

[titanhog]

19 minutes ago, ruraljuror said:

I agree with you Titanhog, with the exception that I'm fairly forgiving of people who are skeptical about information coming from Trump, especially when it's public health or medical information after all the erroneous predictions about how/when the virus would disappear and the hydroxychloroquine, bleach injection, etc. recommendations.  As GW once famously said, "There's an old saying in Tennessee...that says fool me once, shame on you....you can't get fooled again."

I also don't recall any prominent Democratic politicians or left-leaning media figures planting seeds of doubt about a possible vaccine, but that's probably my own bias shining through - I'd love to see some examples if you've got any to share. 

 

This is just the tip of the iceberg.  Several Democrats have said something similar...as if Trump cooked up the vaccines himself.  Purely political.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/10/01/biden-harris-are-playing-trumpian-game-vaccine-safety/

So Democrats have a good claim that they are the real party of “America First.” Unfortunately, they undercut it every time they suggest there could be something wrong with any good vaccine news we hear before the election.

Biden slyly implied as much during Tuesday’s debate: “In terms of the whole notion of a vaccine,” he said, addressing viewers at home, “we’re for a vaccine, but I don’t trust [Trump] at all. ... What we trust is a scientist.” 

This was positively restrained compared with Democratic vice-presidential nominee Kamala D. Harris (Calif.), who told CNN recently that she’d hesitate to take any vaccine approved before the election, after suggesting that government experts overseeing the approval process would be “muzzled ... suppressed … sidelined. Because he’s looking at an election coming up in less than 60 days, and he’s grasping for whatever he can.”

But there are some things no decent person or party can do for political advantage. One of them is to gin up implausible claims of mass fraud to avoid ceding an election they lost. Another is to cast doubt on a potentially lifesaving vaccine during a pandemic.

The defenders of Biden and Harris would, of course, argue that they didn’t actually say you shouldn’t take any vaccine that was overseen by the Trump administration. But that defense is positively, well, Trumpian. As is the behavior: clearly imply something unconscionable, but don’t quite say it outright, so that you can distract your opponents with endless quibbles about what, exactly, you said, rather than having to either own or repudiate your words.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/521672-cuomo-public-should-be-very-skeptical-about-covid-19-vaccine

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Monday he was “not that confident” in the approval process for a possible coronavirus vaccine in place at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

 

Cuomo also cast doubt on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), stating that both the CDC and FDA are seen less credibly under the Trump administration. 

The New York governor, whose state has suffered tens of thousands of deaths from the coronavirus, also said the public lacks faith in how the administration will handle vaccine development. 

"I'm not that confident, but my opinion doesn't matter. I don't believe the American people are that confident," Cuomo said Monday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” "I think it's going to be a very skeptical American public about taking the vaccine, and they should be.”

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), have both expressed concerns about the safety and efficacy of a vaccine approved under the Trump administration.

 

"I trust vaccines, I trust scientists, but I don't trust Donald Trump," Biden said in September. "At this moment, the American people can't either."

 

 

[ruraljuror]

16 minutes ago, titanhog said:

This is just the tip of the iceberg.  Several Democrats have said something similar...as if Trump cooked up the vaccines himself.  Purely political.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/10/01/biden-harris-are-playing-trumpian-game-vaccine-safety/

So Democrats have a good claim that they are the real party of “America First.” Unfortunately, they undercut it every time they suggest there could be something wrong with any good vaccine news we hear before the election.

Biden slyly implied as much during Tuesday’s debate: “In terms of the whole notion of a vaccine,” he said, addressing viewers at home, “we’re for a vaccine, but I don’t trust [Trump] at all. ... What we trust is a scientist.” 

This was positively restrained compared with Democratic vice-presidential nominee Kamala D. Harris (Calif.), who told CNN recently that she’d hesitate to take any vaccine approved before the election, after suggesting that government experts overseeing the approval process would be “muzzled ... suppressed … sidelined. Because he’s looking at an election coming up in less than 60 days, and he’s grasping for whatever he can.”

But there are some things no decent person or party can do for political advantage. One of them is to gin up implausible claims of mass fraud to avoid ceding an election they lost. Another is to cast doubt on a potentially lifesaving vaccine during a pandemic.

The defenders of Biden and Harris would, of course, argue that they didn’t actually say you shouldn’t take any vaccine that was overseen by the Trump administration. But that defense is positively, well, Trumpian. As is the behavior: clearly imply something unconscionable, but don’t quite say it outright, so that you can distract your opponents with endless quibbles about what, exactly, you said, rather than having to either own or repudiate your words.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/521672-cuomo-public-should-be-very-skeptical-about-covid-19-vaccine

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Monday he was “not that confident” in the approval process for a possible coronavirus vaccine in place at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

 

Cuomo also cast doubt on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), stating that both the CDC and FDA are seen less credibly under the Trump administration. 

The New York governor, whose state has suffered tens of thousands of deaths from the coronavirus, also said the public lacks faith in how the administration will handle vaccine development. 

"I'm not that confident, but my opinion doesn't matter. I don't believe the American people are that confident," Cuomo said Monday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” "I think it's going to be a very skeptical American public about taking the vaccine, and they should be.”

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), have both expressed concerns about the safety and efficacy of a vaccine approved under the Trump administration.

 

"I trust vaccines, I trust scientists, but I don't trust Donald Trump," Biden said in September. "At this moment, the American people can't either."

 

 

Fair points. I think Cuomo definitely took it too far in saying that the American people should be skeptical about taking the vaccine, but I don't think Biden or Harris really overstepped their bounds by saying that we should listen to scientists instead of Trump.  

Also we have to consider these statements in the context that pressure from the Trump administration had already caused the CDC to change/recant guidelines on multiple occasions and was forbidding our nation's top expert on the issue from doing interviews with the media. Meanwhile, Trump himself had already said 'We might have the vaccine by election day' a couple months prior to this article being written, which is very different from what the scientists and virology experts were saying and in my opinion would have been cause for justifiable concern.

 

[titanhog]

58 minutes ago, ruraljuror said:

Fair points. I think Cuomo definitely took it too far in saying that the American people should be skeptical about taking the vaccine, but I don't think Biden or Harris really overstepped their bounds by saying that we should listen to scientists instead of Trump.  

Also we have to consider these statements in the context that pressure from the Trump administration had already caused the CDC to change/recant guidelines on multiple occasions and was forbidding our nation's top expert on the issue from doing interviews with the media. Meanwhile, Trump himself had already said 'We might have the vaccine by election day' a couple months prior to this article being written, which is very different from what the scientists and virology experts were saying and in my opinion would have been cause for justifiable concern.

 

First of all...the CDC made misleading statements many times, regardless of anything Trump did.  Trump made stupid remarks all along, like he always does...but that doesn't negate the stupidity of the CDC, nor the dangerous remarks by Harris, Biden, Pelosi, Schumer, Cuomo, etc.  As I said...there's enough "dumbassery" to go around on both sides and anyone saying one side was right and the other side wrong is purely a partisan.  And...both Pfizer and Moderna knew as early as September that their vaccines were effective and could have asked for FDA emergency use in October, but waited until after the election (for whatever reason).  Again...a LOT of politics going on...shamefully...on both sides.  Just like not coming to terms on a new stimulus package.  Both sides dropped the ball on that...and are both guilty to the point of criminality in not getting that done by Election Day.

[ruraljuror]

41 minutes ago, titanhog said:

First of all...the CDC made misleading statements many times, regardless of anything Trump did.  Trump made stupid remarks all along, like he always does...but that doesn't negate the stupidity of the CDC, nor the dangerous remarks by Harris, Biden, Pelosi, Schumer, Cuomo, etc.  As I said...there's enough "dumbassery" to go around on both sides and anyone saying one side was right and the other side wrong is purely a partisan.  And...both Pfizer and Moderna knew as early as September that their vaccines were effective and could have asked for FDA emergency use in October, but waited until after the election (for whatever reason).  Again...a LOT of politics going on...shamefully...on both sides.  Just like not coming to terms on a new stimulus package.  Both sides dropped the ball on that...and are both guilty to the point of criminality in not getting that done by Election Day.

It's a little sad to me that you can absolve the stupidity of Trump (The President of the United States) with a flippant throw-away line about how he makes 'stupid remarks' all along. The fact that this is taken as a given even by a Trump supporter is a pretty strong testament about the unfortunate state of affairs in this country.

It makes me even a little sadder that after glossing over Trump's stupidity, you then go on to state that the the remarks made by the Democrats are 'dangerous.'  I truly don't believe you could possibly think that Biden saying that we should 'listen to scientists over Trump' is dangerous, especially relative to Trump saying that Covid is just like the flu, or that we have it under control, or making fun of Biden for wearing a mask, etc. This is a false equivalence on your part to the nth degree and it makes it seem like you're not putting forth an argument in good faith.

Also, I'm not sure what your purpose is in diverting blame to the CDC - it's a federal agency run by a Trump appointee, so if they're putting out bad information then that buck would seem to stop with the administration, as well. 

But all that said, I'm pumped that the vaccine development has gone faster than the experts predicted that it would. It turns out that Trump was relatively close to being right on this one, and that is truly great news. 

The sad part is, that with access to the best information, intelligence, analysts, and experts all over the world - the fact that Trump wasn't actually saying something stupid for a change (as you've acknowledged is the norm) when he made his predictions about the vaccine development timeline and was in fact right shouldn't be a surprise at all.  In fact, it should be expected, yet here we are. This is the plight of the boy who cried 'my inauguration crowd was the biggest in history' and never let his foot up of the gas when it comes to playing fast and loose with the truth, and we have all suffered for it. 

Edited November 20, 2020 by ruraljuror

[MLBrumby]

I just heard on CNBC that Cuomo has won an emmy for his COVID shows...   Hope it was a joke. No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, I hope we all can admit that that guy is a CLOWN. 

[markhollin]

OK everyone...let's reload and get back to talking about Economic Conditions in Nashville and the U.S.  Thanks.  

[titanhog]

3 hours ago, ruraljuror said:

It's a little sad to me that you can absolve the stupidity of Trump (The President of the United States) with a flippant throw-away line about how he makes 'stupid remarks' all along. The fact that this is taken as a given even by a Trump supporter is a pretty strong testament about the unfortunate state of affairs in this country.

It makes me even a little sadder that after glossing over Trump's stupidity, you then go on to state that the the remarks made by the Democrats are 'dangerous.'  I truly don't believe you could possibly think that Biden saying that we should 'listen to scientists over Trump' is dangerous, especially relative to Trump saying that Covid is just like the flu, or that we have it under control, or making fun of Biden for wearing a mask, etc. This is a false equivalence on your part to the nth degree and it makes it seem like you're not putting forth an argument in good faith.

Also, I'm not sure what your purpose is in diverting blame to the CDC - it's a federal agency run by a Trump appointee, so if they're putting out bad information then that buck would seem to stop with the administration, as well. 

But all that said, I'm pumped that the vaccine development has gone faster than the experts predicted that it would. It turns out that Trump was relatively close to being right on this one, and that is truly great news. 

The sad part is, that with access to the best information, intelligence, analysts, and experts all over the world - the fact that Trump wasn't actually saying something stupid for a change (as you've acknowledged is the norm) when he made his predictions about the vaccine development timeline and was in fact right shouldn't be a surprise at all.  In fact, it should be expected, yet here we are. This is the plight of the boy who cried 'my inauguration crowd was the biggest in history' and never let his foot up of the gas when it comes to playing fast and loose with the truth, and we have all suffered for it. 

Last thing I'm going to say.  I think Trump is a dumba##.  Could have totally handled his entire presidency differently. And if he doesn't have 100% proof of election issues...he needs to concede and go away and not come back.  But again...that doesn't mean the Democrats get a free pass.  That's the difference between me and others on here like you.  You guys really refuse to see the truth of the faults of your own party.  You're so focused on the "orange man" that you believe he's the devil and anything your party and its followers do or say is justified.  It's rather disgusting to watch.  The Democrat party's followers have caused so much chaos for 4 years...and the moment Biden wins, the left begins asking for calm and peace, as if Democrat supporters weren't the ones rioting, looting and burning.  As I've said before...if you can not see the fault in your party's own behavior, you are being nothing but a partisan.  I can admit Trump has been a mess, caused chaos, lied and acted unpresidential the entire way.  If you can't admit your own party and its supporters haven't been an equal failure is what is sad to me.  The Russia hoax and spying on a candidate and new president should be criminal.  Just as with the Republicans with Bill Clinton, the Democrats wasted millions of $$ on a misguided impeachment they knew was going nowhere.   You and I will never see eye to eye on this...but I will also not back down when I see you or any other leftist on this board resort to political talk, pointing fingers at one side while pretending your side is not guilty.  

[ruraljuror]

2 hours ago, titanhog said:

Last thing I'm going to say.  I think Trump is a dumba##.  Could have totally handled his entire presidency differently. And if he doesn't have 100% proof of election issues...he needs to concede and go away and not come back.  But again...that doesn't mean the Democrats get a free pass.  That's the difference between me and others on here like you.  You guys really refuse to see the truth of the faults of your own party.  You're so focused on the "orange man" that you believe he's the devil and anything your party and its followers do or say is justified.  It's rather disgusting to watch.  The Democrat party's followers have caused so much chaos for 4 years...and the moment Biden wins, the left begins asking for calm and peace, as if Democrat supporters weren't the ones rioting, looting and burning.  As I've said before...if you can not see the fault in your party's own behavior, you are being nothing but a partisan.  I can admit Trump has been a mess, caused chaos, lied and acted unpresidential the entire way.  If you can't admit your own party and its supporters haven't been an equal failure is what is sad to me.  The Russia hoax and spying on a candidate and new president should be criminal.  Just as with the Republicans with Bill Clinton, the Democrats wasted millions of $$ on a misguided impeachment they knew was going nowhere.   You and I will never see eye to eye on this...but I will also not back down when I see you or any other leftist on this board resort to political talk, pointing fingers at one side while pretending your side is not guilty.  

 

Well if this is the last thing we're going to say on the matter in this thread then I better take the opportunity to tell you what I really think about you, Titanhog...

 

To be honest, I think you're probably a really nice lady who has some good political ideas and some bad ones. But even for the ideas you're holding onto that I happen to think are wrong, I don't attribute any malevolence to you for holding those opinions, I just think you've latched onto some bad information at some point along the way - which I then try to address.

 

In terms of one of your good ideas, it seems you've got a pretty clear-headed view about who Trump is, but if we're being fair I think that's a pretty low bar to clear. If you really wanted to prove your non-partisan analytical credentials, it would seem that the next question you'd have to ask yourself would be 'why does Trump have the greatest proportion of support within the Republican party of any Republican president in history'? You seem to be projecting some imagined free pass that you think I'm giving to Democrats while seemingly ignoring the uncomfortable truths about the state of your own party that you're glossing over in order to avoid. It also kind of sounds like you voted for Trump despite thinking he's terrible, which is sort of definitionally putting party before country - though I'd love for you to tell me I'm wrong about that so at the very least my view of you could incorporate  that redemptive light. 

 

And to be clear, I've never tried to pretend that "my side isn't guilty" - in fact, my whole argument has been that both sides are not equally to blame, which is a premise that implicitly concedes that both sides are at least in part to blame. The issue is degree of blame and how it is apportioned, and while the simplest answer is to blame both sides equally, that is actually almost never the truth - and yes, there are many issues on which the Democratic Party has been more in the wrong, but given that we were talking about Covid-19 it seemed incumbent to me to remind everyone that on this particular issue, the Republican party and it's leader shoulder the majority of the blame. If you disagree with that position and want to rebut it, I'm open to hearing you out and even changing my mind if you can put together a compelling case, but I would ask that you include some specific details about what the democrats did that you think worse than the Trump administration's response instead of supporting your point with generalities like your ill-defined 'dangerous rhetoric.' 

 

As you've said before "...if you can not see the fault in your party's own behavior, you are being nothing but a partisan." Truer words never spoken, Titanhog. You mention the Russia hoax, but neglect to note that it got 7 or 8 convictions and actually even paid for itself  through the seizure of illegal assets. I think those are the facts anyway, but please look it up and tell me if I'm wrong - and while you're at it, go ahead and look up how many criminal convictions resulted from the Whitewater investigations or Benghazi, or Fast and Furious, or Watergate, or Iran Contra so we're on the same page. Maybe we could both learn something. 

 

See you in the politics thread if you want to discuss any of this further - I've got a laundry list of grievances with the Democratic party that I could hammer away on if that would make you feel better. It just so happens that my list of grievances with the modern Republican party is bigger in size and scope (or in other words, my party grievance lists are not equal...for a little call back to my original thesis in the summary here), and I'm always happy to do my best to explain why. 

 

[markhollin]

Middle Tennessee saw 12,300 new jobs in October as employers continued to climb out of this spring’s COVID-19 crater.

New numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimate that the 10-county region finished October with total nonfarm employment of 1,010,500 — the first time since March that number has been in the seven figures.

Since the end of July, local job growth has outpaced the five-year average by about 60 percent and closed the year-over-year gap by about half a percentage point per month. If job growth sustains that pace — and some national numbers suggest the broader economy's rebound is slowing — area employers will add between 15,000 and 18,000 people to their payrolls by year’s end.

That, however, would still leave the region more than 40,000 jobs short of where it ended 2019. From 2015 to 2019, local employers added an average of 32,100 jobs annually. Growth would have to top 50,000 in both 2021 and 2022 to close the gap COVID opened.

More behind the Nashville Post paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/economic-indicators/article/21144635/regions-employers-add-another-12000-jobs

[Nash_12South]

Updated rule coming next Monday. Main change seems to be the closing time. 50% does not seems to really be enforced (just my opinion).

[smeagolsfree]

My guess as to what next year will bring is as follows.  These are my opinions and guesses based on current observations and past observations.

I do think we will see an increase in activity as the access to the COVID vaccines become more available to more people and the virus hopefully subsides with no major mutations.

I think a number of the delayed projects will get the green light to start as economic conditions improve as Nashville is one of several cities , including Austin & Charlotte that I think will see continued growth.

I think the current exodus of companies from the states of CA & NY in particular will continue and Nashville, Austin, & Charlotte could be the winners in many of these relocations.

I am hopeful as to new announcements but I will not make any bold predictions. We have a lot on the boards already.

A cautionary note: The population growth will have to be around an annual rate of 1.25 to 1.50 to sustain continued growth to keep up with our peers. Right now our growth has fallen behind and has been hurt by COVID worse than Austin or Charlotte.

Some predictions! 2021 thru 2025

As the economy rebounds, the tourist will return in numbers that frankly will dwarf the numbers we have seen before.

Mayor Cooper will not be reelected for a second term. Voters will turn to a moderate IMO. (not a Steve Glover)

A new mass transit plan will have to emerge as traffic will be worse than ever due to new construction and tourism that resident will eventually demand a solution.

The State of TN will also have to act not only in conjunction with a new mass transit plan but will also have to act sooner rather than later on a  massive revamp of the inner interstate loop.

 

[nashvylle]

1 hour ago, smeagolsfree said:

a  massive revamp of the inner interstate loop.

What does this mean, exactly? 

[smeagolsfree]

1 hour ago, nashvylle said:

What does this mean, exactly? 

I will answer in the transportation thread.

[markhollin]

Tennessee just crossed over the 5,000 death plateau from Covid-19.  Here are some sobering numbers:

First death: March 1st

1,000th death: July 29th (151 days)

2,000th death: Sept. 12th (44 days)

3,000th death: Oct. 22nd (39 days)

4,000th death: Nov. 18th  (27 days)

5,000th death: Dec. 7th (19 days) 

We've gone from averaging 1,500 new cases per day in early September to over 5,000 per day now.  And positivity rate is at 18.7%.  Hospital admissions attributable to the virus have climbed 19% over the past 2 weeks.

More at The Nashville Post here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/health-care/article/21144852/covid19-update-state-surpasses-5000-deaths

[markhollin]

More than 41,000 Tennesseans tested positive for the coronavirus in the seven days immediately following Thanksgiving, launching a widely feared post-holiday surge that public officials say may lead to one of the darkest winters in modern American history.

That week – from Nov. 27 to Dec. 3 – unearthed more positive COVID-19 tests than any other seven-day span since the pandemic came to Tennessee. And the infection total grows daily as many samples collected during this week are still being tested.

More at The tennessean here:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/health/2020/12/11/tennessee-covid-19-surge-after-thanksgiving-before-christmas/6477001002/?for-guid=1eea646d-632b-4c47-87eb-062bb676cd8f&utm_source=tennessean-Daily Briefing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_briefing&utm_term=hero

[markhollin]

The Renaissance Hotel is for sale for an unknown asking price. 

In 2019, Ashford Hospitality Trust (the owner) took out a loan for $240 million, none of which it has yet paid back, according to financial filings made to bond holders. A notice of default has been served, the money is due March 2021 and a six-month forbearance is coming to a close at the end of December, according to written reports from a special servicer who was contracted in March.

The Renaissance news demonstrates the fallout from Covid-19, which gutted the tourism and hospitality industries as people curbed their travel. The Renaissance is currently valued at $216 million, a 24.5% drop from the end of 2018, according to the financial filings. This hotel and The Westin in Princeton, New Jersey, are considered collateral on Ashford's $240 million commercial mortgage backed security (CMBS) loan, the servicer's report said. And this summer painted a grim picture for both properties — a combined occupancy rate of 8.8% as of July, according to the report.

More at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2020/12/15/renaissance-on-the-market.html

[Armacing]

Average cost of a hotel room in Nashville dropped from $223 in 2019 to $88 in 2020.

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2020/10/20/louisville-ranks-among-most-expensive-us-city-fo.html

[markhollin]

Tennessee ranks #2 nationally for daily Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people over the past 7 days. By some accounts, the state ranks #1. The COVID Tracking Project showed Tennessee in the top spot for daily cases per 1 million people on Tuesday. The data draws from state and local public health authorities.  In December alone, the daily increase in cases broke its record four times, marking the current all-time high of 11,410 daily cases Wednesday.

This week, Tennessee's average deaths reported per day hit 76, the highest ever. The state's weekly average positivity rate is 16.2%.  As of Wednesday, a record-number 2,874 people in Tennessee were hospitalized for COVID-19, while the number of open ICU beds dipped to 8% and floor beds sat at 12% statewide. 

More at The Tennessean here:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/health/2020/12/16/tennessee-covid-19-outbreak-among-top-country-vaccine-nears-rollout/3921120001/?for-guid=1eea646d-632b-4c47-87eb-062bb676cd8f&utm_source=tennessean-Daily Briefing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_briefing&utm_term=list_article_thumb 


Nearly half of U.S. Cities with fastest growing Coronavirus cases are in Tennessee:

https://wpln.org/post/nearly-half-of-u-s-cities-with-fastest-growing-coronavirus-cases-are-in-tennessee/?fbclid=IwAR3VTYfhe03xrbNm7zr51klSW73E9kN006Qc6BPmTWryQTXMwfTbJkJXZXA

[smeagolsfree]

Again, you can't fix Stupid! I am sure these folks are saying, "I aint waren no mask and its a hoax!"