HOW TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY CAPITALISM SET THE STAGE FOR THE INTENSITY OF THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS IN THE U.S.

The business model in the age of neoliberalism known as "mean and lean" has exacerbated the effects of the coronavirus crisis. It means that management cuts corners, a euphemism for laying off workers to streamline production, itself a euphemism for "speedups." All this conforms to the neoliberal tendency to privilege immediate profit over long- term considerations. In the field of hospital care that meant overcrowded hospitals with no elbow room to deal with emergency situations such as the coronavirus pandemic. Twenty-first century capitalism has also intensified capital concentration, meaning that mergers were the order of the day, resulting in numerous hospital closures. In New York City alone 19 hospitals shut down since the turn of the century, many replaced by luxury cons. Saint Vincent’s Hospital (south of 14th St. in Manhattan, shown in this photo) founded in 1849 was one of the victims. Yesterday's The Intercept program with Jeremy Scahill discussed the relationship between capitalism in the age of neoliberalism and the coronavirus scourge in the U.S.
https://theintercept.com/2020/04/01/essential-workers-and-the-reverse-robin-hood-coronavirus-bailout/