The lots of nearly all the car dealers on Gilbert Road are almost entirely devoid of cars. This shows the devastating effects that the government lockdowns had on our economy.
Government works best when it is small, limited and staffed by good people. The Covid lockdowns showed what governments can do when they are large, nearly all powerful and run by self serving bureaucrats and career politicians. As soon as people were afraid enough to give the government more power, governments immediately proceeded to shut down industry and schools, print money and cause inflation, force children into masks and mandate more or less experimental medicines.
In Chandler and Gilbert, as well as locations around the country, one of the effects of government lockdowns is a severe shortage of cars for sale. Nearly all car dealers on Gilbert Road, between Pecos and the 202, are severely understocked. Where there used to be a large selection of new and used vehicles for sale, now there are only a few, and at prices that are around 50% higher than 2 or 3 years ago. Severe lockdowns in Michigan, one of the centers of US automobile productions, are partly to blame. Blame also falls on Asian governments who, sometimes to this day, follow failed zero Covid strategies and ruthlessly shut down entire cities if Covid is on the rise. This has negatively affected the supply of automobile components, such as computer chips.
Consumers are of course also feeling the pinch on other areas as prices for things such as milk and gasoline have massively risen.
Just like it would take a person years to catch up after a year of lost work, so it will take the economy as a whole years to play catch up with the supply disruptions caused by government lockdowns, which in parts are still ongoing. Higher prices and lower supply will remain with us during that time. The devastating effects of the government lockdowns won't be easily shaken off. We should focus on making sure they never happen again.
The lockdowns are receding because people, for now, mostly got over their fear. However, the infrastructure of power that allowed the lockdowns to happen in the first place is still there. Politicians could reinstate lock downs at any time if there is enough popular support for them to do so, whether it's over another Covid wave, climate fearmongering or whatever other so called crisis people are afraid of that day. To save ourselves from this tyranny in the future, the power of the government has to be reduced, including severely limiting the ability to institute emergency measures.
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