Hickory Sun

Amy Cooke, the CEO of the John Locke Foundation and publisher of Carolina Journal, recently alleged that the unilateral actions of Gov. Roy Cooper have left North Carolina in a “reopening purgatory” that endangers the economic future of the state.

As many as 40% of the businesses currently affected by ongoing restrictions will be forced to close and never reopen, Cooke said in an Aug. 7 video. She cited the estimate as coming from Michael Walden, an extension economist at North Carolina State University and a member of the Graduate Economics faculty with The Poole College of Management.

”Further, Walden predicts North Carolina’s economy won’t recover until 2023,” Cooke said in the video. “And still, we’ll suffer slightly higher unemployment rates.”

State Rep. Jay Adams (R-Catawba) posted the video Cooke created to his Facebook on Aug. 7, adding that a recent conversation he had with a Charlotte property manager indicated as many as half of area restaurants will not reopen.

“Those businesses are the true 'stuff of dreams', they are the jobs of literally hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians,” Adams stated in his post. “Enterprise is the engine that fuels virtually all revenue streams (including the ones that sustain all levels of government).”

Cooke also said that Walden has estimated that 15%-to-25% of all U.S. businesses will be permanently shut down by restrictions.

”The Republican-controlled legislature passed legislation allowing businesses to reopen safely,” Cooke said in the video. “Cooper vetoed them.”

Cooke also reminded viewers that at the beginning of the shutdown, Cooper said that the goal was to “flatten the curve and avoid stressing the healthcare system.” 

After five months of an economic shutdown, Cooke said that North Carolinians have, “smashed the curve.”

”And cooper won’t even commit to reopening in September,” she said in the video.