April, 2020

• 7 April

  Covid-19: Poland forces first vote by mail

  

  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 ...

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• 7 April

  S African political divisions extend over virus response

  

  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 ...

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• 7 April

  Trump bailout watchdog draws praise over independence

  

  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 ...

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• 7 April

  Covid-19: Crises and collectivist temptation

  

  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 ...

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• 7 April

  It’s hard to say who will die from virus

  

  In every epidemic, some die, others become ill and recover, and the luckiest live through infection without symptoms. In today’s pandemic, we are seeing this play out before our eyes. Although the initial epidemiological data show that Covid-19 is more severe in older people, men and those with pre-existing conditions such as heart and lung disease, not everyone with severe ...

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• 7 April

  Spain’s virus tragedy was all too predictable

  From the hospitals in Bergamo to the Pope’s prayers in Rome, Italy has become the symbol of the Covid-19 epidemic in Europe. But as the contagion in Italy slows and the daily death toll starts to fall, the eyes of the world have moved to Spain, which is suffering from an equal — if not worse — outbreak. Spain has ...

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• 7 April

  Europe’s debate over coronabonds can wait

  Europe needs enormous public spending right now — not to deliver stimulus in the usual sense, but to meet the immediate costs of fighting Covid-19, including generous income insurance to the people whose jobs are evaporating. What Europe most certainly does not need is to get bogged down in a debate about the best long-term solutions to an urgent problem. ...

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• 7 April

  Why airlines don’t want to refund your tickets

  

  In documents published alongside Carnival Corp’s $6.25 billion debt and equity offering, the beleaguered cruise ship operator showed why it might not keep much of that cash for long. Carnival held $4.7 billion in customer deposits at the end of February for trips that passengers paid for in advance but hadn’t yet taken. Because their cruises have been cancelled amid ...

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• 7 April

  Fed needs to throw a lifeline to junk bonds

  

  The Federal Reserve seems determined to do whatever it takes to help protect the US economy from being devastated by coronavirus-related shutdowns. It’s buying so many bonds that its balance sheet is approaching $6 trillion: Traditionally in recessions, the Fed buys increasing amounts of government bonds, which reduces interest rates. That usually lowers borrowing rates for businesses as well, helping ...

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• 7 April

  Johnson’s coronavirus crisis just got much harder

  

  After 10 days of persistent symptoms, Boris Johnson is the first leader of a major country to be hospitalised with Covid-19. There’s never a good time to be sick, but there could hardly be a worse moment for a prime minister who has become such a towering figure in his party and the UK and who has enjoyed strong ratings ...

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