March, 2020

• 15 March

  Not ready for pandemic? Be ready for cyberattack

  

  Amid the chaos of coronavirus, it was encouraging to see a bipartisan, blue-ribbon commission announce a coherent plan for dealing with the next potential catastrophe — a major cyberattack against the United States. Covid-19 has given us all a foretaste of what a crippling cyberattack would look like: Transportation, infrastructure and health care services would all be severely disrupted. We’d ...

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• 15 March

  Can closing schools slow pandemic?

  

  Suddenly, every country in the world has to decide whether or not to close schools to slow the Covid-19 pandemic. France will, as of Monday; the UK won’t, and so on. Within federal systems like the US and Germany, states or school districts have to make the decision. In Germany, tiny Saarland is shuttering its schools, while other states are ...

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• 15 March

  Finally, good news on coronavirus testing

  The US woke up to its first good coronavirus testing news in a while last week, after weeks of hearing about nothing but delays and dangerously inadequate capacity. The Food and Drug Administration announced an emergency authorisation of a Roche Holding AG test that can screen patients substantially faster than existing options. It’s good news for Roche — the approval ...

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• 15 March

  With oil this cheap, why bother going green?

  Three months ago, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, announced — to much fanfare — a “Green Deal” to make the EU carbon neutral by 2050. Alas, a few things have happened since, including a pandemic and an oil shock. Together, these unforeseeable events cast doubt over the Green Deal just as it’s supposed to become legislation ...

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• 15 March

  Covid-19 aid should go to citizens, not corporations

  

  The most infuriating aspect of the government’s response to the 2008 financial crisis was the contrast between its generosity to companies and its lack of generosity to citizens. Congress passed a $700 billion bailout for the banking industry. AIG received $180 billion worth of loans from the Federal Reserve. The auto industry received nearly $81 billion in taxpayer funds. Yet ...

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• 15 March

  BOE, UK show how to deal with virus

  

  Despite losing an empire and the sterling as the world’s reserve currency, the UK managed for years to punch well above its weight on international economic and financial issues, often critically informing and influencing key decisions and policy pivots. The policy announcements by the Bank of England (BOE) and the UK Treasury suggest that this is still possible despite concerns ...

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• 15 March

  Boeing’s Max crisis meets coronavirus outbreak

  

  Boeing Co’s 737 Max crisis has entered a new phase. Last week brought the revelation that Air Canada is cutting its order for the grounded plane by 18%, marking a major cancellation by a large Western airline in the wake of two fatal crashes and a much-prolonged return to service. This likely won’t be the last: Airlines’ cancellation options increase ...

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• 15 March

  Historic market fall exposes Canada’s economic fault lines

  

  Bloomberg Never in modern trading history have Canadian stocks fallen so much in a single day of trading as they did this week. Growing alarm over the coronavirus and plummeting oil prices have been catalysts for the slump. But one historian sees two underlying factors at play: a fractured geopolitical environment that has coincided with market volatility the world over, ...

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• 15 March

  Bitcoin drops 50% in epic tumble since ’19

  

  Bloomberg Bitcoin is proving to be no haven asset amid the current global market meltdown. The price of the largest digital currency continued to swing wildly as a rout that began in earnest showed no signs of slowing down. Bitcoin dropped as much as 32% to $3,915, its weakest since March 2019, before clawing back loss, according to consolidated pricing ...

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• 15 March

  Covid-19 pandemic puts Fed on rapid route to zero

  

  Bloomberg With the coronavirus outbreak rewriting the rules of the global economy, the Federal Reserve is under increasing pressure to keep the flow of support coming this week. The US central bank is facing calls to slash borrowing costs to zero at or before Wednesday’s decision, adding to its attempt last week to buttress free-falling markets with extra bond purchases. ...

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