But then imagine what happens if the fisherman are suddenly forbidden from going out to sea. After a few months, the farmers then have all the fishermen's cash, so the fishermen can no longer buy any grain. And because on this island (our modern society), barter is forbidden, no commerce can take place.
By giving everyone on that island an injection of cash, you do devalue their currency, but it allows the fisherman to buy what they need in the short term. It would be a terrible ongoing policy however.
The interesting thing about this analogy though, which also applies to our situation, is that you're giving everyone an injection of cash. The farmers didn't need it, or not as much...they could still grow grain, and make it available for sale.
However, if the fishermen couldn't fish for a product to sell, they had no money to buy grain. Not only does this hurt the fisherman, because he may starve, but it affects the farmer, as he's receiving less revenue, so has less cash for other goods and services.
It gets worse though. The fishermen get an injection of cash, so they can now eat. The farmer can make more sales, as the fishermen have cash. But, as with our society, the farmer also got a cash injection, on top of getting paid by the fishermen. Wealth has been redistributed to the farmer, while the fishermen will soon run out of cash again.
There was a brief recovery in normalcy, but as with us, what the society needs to function normally, is for the fishermen to be able to fish, to sell their fish to everyone, to receive money, which then circulates as they buy goods from the farmer, and anyone else selling goods or services.
TL,DR: Cash infusions don't solve the problem. Ending the lockdowns and restrictions do.
The interesting thing about this analogy though, which also applies to our situation, is that you're giving everyone an injection of cash. The farmers didn't need it, or not as much...they could still grow grain, and make it available for sale.
However, if the fishermen couldn't fish for a product to sell, they had no money to buy grain. Not only does this hurt the fisherman, because he may starve, but it affects the farmer, as he's receiving less revenue, so has less cash for other goods and services.
It gets worse though. The fishermen get an injection of cash, so they can now eat. The farmer can make more sales, as the fishermen have cash. But, as with our society, the farmer also got a cash injection, on top of getting paid by the fishermen. Wealth has been redistributed to the farmer, while the fishermen will soon run out of cash again.
There was a brief recovery in normalcy, but as with us, what the society needs to function normally, is for the fishermen to be able to fish, to sell their fish to everyone, to receive money, which then circulates as they buy goods from the farmer, and anyone else selling goods or services.
TL,DR: Cash infusions don't solve the problem. Ending the lockdowns and restrictions do.