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Bill Ackman, Lloyd Blankfein Take Lockdown Disagreements to Twitter

Bill Ackman, Lloyd Blankfein Take Lockdown Disagreements to Twitter

(Bloomberg) -- Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman renewed his call for a 30-day-shutdown to fight the coronavirus pandemic in a Twitter post on Monday, reacting to a tweet former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein had posted ten hours earlier.

Blankfein had supported “extreme measures” to flatten the virus curve, but said those at lower risk of the disease should return to work “within a very few weeks”, pointing out dangers a longer shutdown would bring to the economy.

Ackman disagreed with Blankfein, calling for a gradual reopening with “testing, testing, testing”, after a lockdown of 30 days that would leave the virus “largely obliterated”.

The discussion comes after Ackman last week first posted a call for a shutdown on Twitter. He later praised New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo’s measures against the pandemic, urging 100% of the states non-essential workforce to stay home. Cuomo “will save thousands of lives”, Ackman said.

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