The ongoing debate about mask requirements is certain to have economic effects one way or the other.
Our war against the virus has been extended, which is increasing the costs of winning. Weeks ago, we discussed how governments were caught between a rock and many hard places when it came to the decision of opening economies. Open too soon and the war against the virus gets harder. Don't open and the economic consequences become more severe. Those are not good choices.
Many states have left it up to consumers whether to wear masks. Again, tough decisions. If you make mask wearing mandatory, we curtail the freedom that makes America great. If you make it voluntary, then the risk of spreading the virus goes up. We do acknowledge that these choices will affect the economy, one way or the other. At this point, we have no idea how severe this recession will get and how long the recovery will be.
This is because we don't know how long the pandemic will last. In a few weeks, we will get a reading of economic growth -- or more accurately stated "contraction" -- for the second quarter. But the results will not tell us much about the future. For now, all Americans may not be wearing masks, but certainly market analysts are looking through masks as they try to see the future. One thing is for certain. The real estate market is stronger than expected because of low interest rates. Whatever the future, people will need homes. That is the one clear vision which seems to be prevalent.