So we know Covid-19 is not nice and has caused the UK Government and indeed the whole world a lot of problems and lives.
What is really shocking though is the economic cost. Throughout the pandemic economics has taken a back seat to protecting lives in most countries. Especially, the UK with its NHS worship and fast growing numbers of left-wing nutjobs, is particularly nervy - not that it saved us from being one of the worst affected places to date.
But the economic numbers are brutal. Now we have £2 trillion in UK debt, albeit £745 billion is QE debt which is owed by the Government to the Bank of England, which is sort of owns anyway. This equates to a 100% debt to GDP ratio last experienced in the aftermath of WW2 and economic catastrophe.
Worse is that Government spending continues at £27 billion a month, already this year we have spent as much as we did in the whole of 2009 or 2010 - the height of the Financial Crisis and its costs. But is is only August and the furlough and money spending continues.
All with an economy that is currently 20% smaller than it was, even if this bounces back in future months we will end up with an economy at least 5% smaller for the next few years. All those airlines and small retailers are not coming back quickly.
There is no evidence that I can see that the Chancellor Rishi Sunak is going to apply the breaks, nor that the Prime Minister can awaken the country when all the talk is of second waves and a terrified populace.
So by the end of next year, there is not way we won't have £2.2 trillion of debt - a 20% debt increase in the space of 18 months - unheralded outside of a major war. The only positives are thing slike furlough are easier to cut, but benefits for the unemployed will rush in to keep the Government spending.
All that austerity and the political and personal costs of it has been wasted away by this new black swan event. the whole 2020's will repeat the 2010's in terms of economic exprience - little money for Governments to spend, creaking infrastructure and whining people asking for subsidies that don't exist.
There is a way to reduce this, which is to rapidly end government support that will force people and companies back to work - but there is no backbone in the government to do this and the ever present fear of a second wave stops this.
I saw pictures of a huge gig in Wuhan this week, not much worry about a second wave there I note.
