In her response Durkan is demonstrating a line of flawed reasoning I like to call the "99 Potions Problem".

The 99 Potions Problem arises most often in games where players gain access to a consumable resource: healing potions; limited-use direct-damage items; etc. https://twitter.com/AshleyA_RC/status/1289611192764207104

A purely rational player, understanding that they are accumulating these resources at a fairly constant rate (or could accumulate more in the future if necessary) would use them in a targeted manner to defeat especially hard enemies, survive particularly nasty dungeons, etc.

However, because most players are inherently conservative in their play (not wanting to die or lost progress), they instead hoard these resources, eventually accumulating the maximum amount in their inventories - in old school console RPGs, usually 99 of the item.

By the time the player reaches a challenge where they are being pressed and feel the need to use their resources, however, the difficulty of the game has scaled up to the point where all of those resources they stockpiled are no longer powerful enough to solve the problem.

Bringing this back to reality: the city feeds its Rainy Day Fund out of revenues; it's a renewable resource but limited at any given time. Right now we're sitting on a big stockpile of healing potions.

The economic impact on individuals and small businesses caused by the pandemic and current economic crisis is exactly the sort of thing we were saving the stockpile for. But because we can imagine even greater catastrophe - earthquake, civil war, whatever - we don't use it.

However, if something more severe than the current crisis *were* to hit the City of Seattle, the Rainy Day Fund would be grossly inadequate to actually address it - it would be a drop in the ocean compared to the cost of such a calamity.

So we're sitting on a stack of 99 potions, fighting the last boss in the game where they would actually be helpful, and we're refusing to drink because we're afraid we still might need them.

My friends Blake and Highcove used to call this Giant Enemy Crab Syndrome, after a completely unrelated meme (cf. https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/e3-sony-2006-giant-enemy-crab).

Basically...

You're down to your last HP, staring at a Giant Enemy Crab, and holding a small nuclear weapon, but you don't use it because there might be a *slightly larger* Giant Enemy Crab just around the corner, and then what will you do?

There is no Slightly Larger Crisis waiting around the corner for Seattle, just the one we're facing now. We can use our stockpile of potions and bombs on the current enemy, but we must accept that any more powerful boss will require the intervention of a higher power to fight.