‘Universal stay-at-home is the most devastating economic force in modern history And it is man-made. It very suddenly reverses the gains of underprivileged groups, kills and creates drug addicts, beats and terrorizes women and children in violent now-jobless households, and more. It bleeds deep anguish and suicide.’
That’s Michael Burry, whose timely bet against mortgage securities ahead of the 2008 financial crisis was highlighted in “The Big Short” movie, sharing his controversial thoughts on the economic shutdown in an email to Bloomberg News.
His view comes amid mounting job losses and a reeling stock market — both of which, he seems to believe, could be mitigated if the country were allowed to get back to work.
Burry, who earned his M.D. at Vanderbilt University before he shifted gears to become a professional investor, has for weeks been railing on Twitter against the government’s response to the pandemic. Here’s just a sample:
Burry also made the case for hydroxychloroquine, a drug backed by President Donald Trump, that has become a political hot potato, with many in the medical community questioning its efficacy.
Here’s Burry’s vision from last month of what the U.S. needs to do to address the outbreak:
"Prudent plan: 1) Standardize on chloroquine and azithromycin -cheap and available 2) Sick and elderly voluntarily shelter in place. 3) Americans lead their normal lives with extra hand washing and special care if around elderly. Saving the economy means life, not murder.#COVID19"
He offered more detail in his emails this week to Bloomberg News as to why he would immediately lift stay-at-home orders for everybody but high-risk groups.
“I would let the virus circulate in the population that is not likely to get severe disease from it,” he wrote. “This is the only path that comes close to balancing the needs of all groups. Vaccines are not coming anytime soon, so natural immunity is the only way out for now. Every day, every week in the current situation is ruining innumerable lives in a criminally unjust manner.”
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 tally keeps rising in the U.S., home to the most confirmed cases at about 400,000, with 12,911 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. Globally, there are now 1.45 million cases and more than 83,000 deaths. Another 308,146 people have recovered.
At last check, the Dow Jones Industrial Average US:DJIA , S&P 500 US:SPX and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite US:COMP were poised for a strong rebound on Wednesday after a volatile stretch that ended in the red in the prior session
This article originally appeared on MarketWatch.
