April, 2020

• 18 April

  Buhari’s chief of staff dies after getting virus

  

  Bloomberg Abba Kyari, chief of staff to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and an ardent supporter of state intervention in the economy, has died. His age wasn’t disclosed. “The Presidency regrets to announce the passage of the Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari,” presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said on Twitter. Kyari had been hospitalised in the commercial capital, ...

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• 18 April

  Biden digital game outmatched by Trump in virtual race

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump’s campaign boasts it needed just 24 hours to switch into virtual mode after coronavirus lockdowns ended his signature, high-energy rallies. For Joe Biden, who thrives on the personal connection of retail politics, the transition is taking much longer. Trump’s digital operation dominates the digital space in no small part thanks to the presidential bully pulpit and ...

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• 18 April

  Indonesia tightens curbs on millions as virus cases spike

  Bloomberg Indonesia has extended stricter social-distancing rules to millions of people living on the main island of Java, and in West Sumatra, as the world’s fourth-most populous nation strives to stem a spike in coronavirus cases. Large-scale social restrictions will be put in place across five regions in West Java that collectively house almost 9 million people, Health Minister Terawan ...

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• 18 April

  The US Space Force is ready for takeoff, finally

  

  The US Space Force — which has been dismissed variously as a fantasy, a presidential folly and a prospective Pentagon turf war — was finally set to launch for real on Saturday — as 86 newly minted space warriors graduate from the Air Force Academy. The surprise in this space startup, so far, is that most of the bad things ...

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• 18 April

  New car models smell of disinfectant

  

  Judging by the number of motor vehicles being stolen in New York City right now, cars have become no less desirable during a lockdown. Burglary rates aren’t a reliable economic indicator, but they’re far from the only sign that car demand could prove more resilient than might appear from recent record sales declines. If unemployment doesn’t surge even higher — ...

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• 18 April

  Big holes in Trump’s state reopening plan!

  President Donald Trump’s reopening guidelines for states are more cautious than you might expect from someone who consistently calls for a rapid return to economic activity. The “gating” metrics that states are supposed to meet before reopening are fairly robust: They should see a two-week downward trajectory of flu and Covid-like symptoms, and a two-week downward trajectory of documented cases ...

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• 18 April

  The big government is bad for productivity

  The coronavirus pandemic and its devastating effect on the US economy has ensured that big government—the one that’s already spending some $4.7 trillion in the current fiscal year—is poised to get even larger. As in past crises that led to massive government interventions, new initiatives will largely stay in place once the business downturn ends to the long-term detriment of ...

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• 18 April

  Mass death affects US presidents; even Trump

  

  The US has surpassed 28,000 dead from Covid-19, which is almost certainly an undercount, and is bracing for more. President Donald Trump’s partisan and incoherent response — the sum of his positions is that he has both total authority and zero responsibility — has made the crisis more political than it might have been. Multiple governors have shown a better ...

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• 18 April

  Amazon squeezes affiliates when they can least afford it

  

  The coronavirus pandemic has gutted many US businesses. Amazon.com Inc, of course, is one of the notable exceptions. The e-commerce giant is thriving as self-isolating consumers make more and more of their purchases online rather than risk Covid-19 infection by shopping outdoors. To illustrate the magnitude of the recent ramp-up, the company announced earlier this week it plans to hire ...

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• 18 April

  Doctors learn more about coronavirus treatment

  

  So much of the news around Covid-19 is scary, but there is a hopeful item to share: A steep rise in the learning curve of doctors treating critically ill coronavirus patients. Doctors are learning more about just how weird this disease can be when people get sick enough to be hospitalised. Some say that unlike typical cases of severe pneumonia, ...

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