Bloomberg The Spanish government is working to roll out a universal basic income as soon as possible, as part of a battery of actions aimed at countering the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Economy Minister Nadia Calvino. Social Security Minister Jose Luis Escriva is coordinating the project and plans to put some sort of basic income “in place ...

Bloomberg If UK debt issuance is anything to go by, this economic crisis is likely to be far worse than the last. Britain’s Debt Management Office will have to raise sales of government bonds to 285 billion pounds ($352 billion), according to Citigroup Inc. That’s over 50 billion pounds more than during the great financial crisis. Still, gilts have been ...

Bloomberg Italy’s government expanded its powers to block foreign takeovers and prepared a massive injection of liquidity into companies that risk bankruptcy amid the world’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced new economic measures as the country enters its fifth week of lockdown, with all non-essential businesses shuttered and still no plan to relax restrictions. Italy reported 3,599 ...

Bloomberg European companies have been quick to slash or cancel their dividends in response to the coronavirus crisis, fueling calls from market participants that U.S. firms should take heed and preserve cash. The pandemic’s damage to profit as well as regulators’ calls for corporations to preserve liquidity have so far pushed 107 companies in the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index ...

Bloomberg The UK is facing a leadership crisis as it heads into the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, with Boris Johnson in intensive care and his government under pressure to get a grip on the outbreak. The 55-year-old prime minister was taken to the hospital on April 05 for routine tests after struggling to shake off Covid-19, but his condition ...

Bloomberg Spain reported an increase in daily coronavirus deaths and new cases, suggesting the government has yet to bring the disease under control. There were 5,478 new infections in the 24 hours through Tuesday, the highest since April 05 and taking the total to 140,510, according to Health Ministry data. The death toll rose by 743 to 13,798, a larger ...

Bloomberg Poland’s ruling party is pushing ahead with a plan to force the nation to hold an election by mail for the first time ever, steamrolling over calls to delay the May 10 presidential ballot as the country remains in lockdown to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Lawmakers of the Law & Justice party approved the measure in the lower house ...

Bloomberg Long-standing divisions within South Africa’s political leadership over economic policy have spilled into its management of the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. While finance minister Tito Mboweni has said the government could consider approaching the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for assistance to fight the pandemic, senior ruling coalition officials rejected that option on the grounds that the nation’s sovereignty ...

Bloomberg The White House lawyer tapped to oversee disbursements from a massive US pandemic relief fund is a former seminarian with decades of oversight experience yet still faces questions over whether he’ll do President Donald Trump’s bidding instead of protecting taxpayers. Brian Miller will be the main watchdog over $500 billion directed to big business by Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s Treasury ...

Today’s pandemic has simultaneously inflicted the isolation of “social distancing” and the social solidarity of shared anxiety. In tandem, these have exacerbated a tendency that was already infecting America’s body politic before the virus insinuated itself into many bodies and every consciousness. It is the recurring longing for escape from individualism, with its burden of personal responsibility. It includes a ...