The US Treasury is planning to borrow almost $3 trillion during the second quarter (April to June) of 2020, a figure astounding in its size and implications. About $800 billion of that sum is designated as a financial reserve. If you were told that some or all of this reserve would be deployed by President Trump to win key voting ...

The shutdown of America’s high schools has deprived millions of students of rites we previously took for granted. Coursework can be transferred online to some degree, but no virtual environment can replace football games, choir concerts, musicals and so much more that’s part of the American high school experience. We may continue to yearn for such things well into the ...

States that are reopening their economies even as cases of Covid-19 are still rising are threatening their own residents and the whole country. But they are also running into two challenges that all states will face: Employees don’t want to return to work if they fear exposure to coronavirus on the job, and employers don’t want to get sued if ...

In nations around the world, the epidemiological number now getting all the attention is R, the effective reproduction number, which reflects the average number of new coronavirus cases resulting from a single infection. Germany estimates its R is now around 0.9, meaning the epidemic is waning there, if slowly. Estimates from two weeks ago in the US put R in ...

Bloomberg Economists are forecasting the Indian economy to shrink 0.4% in the year to March as a result of steps to contain the coronavirus pandemic, according to the latest survey by Bloomberg News. The forecast has been slashed thrice since February and represents a sharp cut from the 1.7% expansion seen in April, according to the median of 19 economists ...

Bloomberg China is allowing executives from some foreign companies to enter the country despite a coronavirus travel ban as it seeks to restart the economy, according to people familiar with the matter. The Ministry of Commerce told some key foreign companies they can apply for exemptions to the entry ban if they want to get executives back into China, the ...

Bloomberg China is stepping up purchases of soybeans from the US as Brazilian sales start to wane and the Asian nation seeks to meet its pledges under the trade deal with Washington, according to people familiar with the matter. State-run buyers have purchased more than 20 cargoes, or over 1 million metric tons, of American soybeans in the past two ...

Bloomberg The Philippines will keep the capital region that has the most coronavirus infections under a lockdown but it will allow some businesses to reopen in the area as it eases curbs in many parts of the country. President Rodrigo Duterte will put Metro Manila, Laguna province south of the capital and Cebu City in the Visayas under a modified ...

Bloomberg Toyota Motor Corp warned profit will tumble 80% to a nine-year low and predicted it could take another year before global car sales return to pre-virus levels, the latest sign that expectations for a quick economic rebound are fading. Japan’s biggest automaker is targeting operating profit of 500 billion yen ($4.65 billion) for the year through March, the company ...

Bloomberg With the coronavirus pandemic crippling demand for automobiles worldwide, Tata Motors Ltd is worth nothing without its luxury unit Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), according to CLSA Ltd. The $3.7 billion Indian auto company faces a significant increase in debt due to the crisis, and its plan to deleverage may be delayed by four to six quarters, CLSA said. It ...