The coronavirus pandemic has united Americans of different races and income levels in deep pessimism about the economy, in contrast to the widely divergent views that prevailed before the crisis.
Highly paid or less so, black or white, investors in the stock market or not, Americans largely expect a poor or mixed performance from the economy in the coming year and prolonged damage over the next five years, according to a poll for The New York Times by the online research firm SurveyMonkey .
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Coronavirus economics: Debt-laden countries at risk, as financial markets screech to a halt | UN
Economists and finance experts are warning that countries with "high" or "distressed" public debt levels are at risk of severe economic shocks amid the COVID-19 pandemic and calling for restructuring plans based on the principle of solidarity.
"We know this virus will spread like wildfire and there are no firewalls," he said . "Alleviating crushing debt is absolutely crucial."
Since the 2008 financial crisis, public external debt in many developing countries has spiked. Low interest rates and high liquidity boosted many countries' access to commercial lending. By January 2020, the debt of 44 per cent of least developed and other low-income developing countries was already considered at high risk or in distress.
Who's lost their trunks?
Booms help fraudsters paper over cracks in their accounts, from fictitious investment returns to exaggerated sales. Slowdowns rip the covering off. As Baruch Lev, an accounting professor at New York University, puts it, "In good times everyone looks good, and the market punishes you harshly for not keeping up." Many big book-cooking scandals of the past 20 years emerged in downturns.
Much of the swimwear was already threadbare: a borrowing binge has strained many corporate balance-sheets. Some dirty secrets are beginning to come out. Take Luckin Coffee, which had expanded to take on Starbucks in China, attracting big-name investors like Blackrock and Singapore's sovereign-wealth fund.
U.S. Economic Confidence Shows Record Drop
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans' evaluations of the economy have abruptly turned negative amid the coronavirus pandemic. Gallup's Economic Confidence Index is now -32, down from +22 in March.
The 54-point drop is the largest one-month change in Gallup's trend dating back to 1992, and it comes on the heels of last month's 19-point drop , which had been one of the largest monthly declines to date.
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Although the current figures represent the largest short-term decline, economic confidence remains higher now than it was during the Great Recession. The Economic Confidence Index was -72 in October 2008, just after the financial crisis started. The index has a theoretical range of +100 to -100.
And here's another article:
Economics vs. Epidemiology: Quantifying the Trade-Off - WSJ
The rising economic toll of pandemic-induced shutdowns is fueling suspicions that government leaders are listening too much to epidemiologists and not enough to economists.
China GDP: Q1 Data shows first economic contraction in more than four decades - CNN
Fighting with shadows - Why has China's stimulus been so stingy?
Editor's note: On April 17th China announced that GDP fell by 6.8% in the first quarter of 2019, compared with the same period last year, and that retail sales fell by 16% in March, again compared with the year before
G OLDEN EAGLE WORLD is a glistening monument to commerce, a nine-storey mall with endless stores and restaurants, virtual-reality arcades and spas, even a zoo. But it is now trying something more basic, setting up food stalls outside to drum up business. Although China is back to work, customers have been slow to return. The giant mall in the eastern city of Nanjing has used giveaways and promotions, all to limited effect.
Coronavirus Crisis Underlines Weak Spots in U.S. Economic System - The New York Times
In an economy that has been hailed for its record-shattering successes, the most basic necessities — food, shelter and medical care — are all suddenly at risk.
The latest crisis has played out in sobering economic data and bleak headlines — most recently on Thursday, when the Labor Department said 5.2 million workers filed last week for unemployment benefits.
That brought the four-week total to 22 million, roughly the net number of jobs created in a nine-and-a-half-year stretch that ended with the pandemic's arrival.
Happening on Twitter
Bridging Divides, Most Agree on Economic Outlook: It's Bleak https://t.co/wtghErqxZP HerbScribner (from Salt Lake City, UT) Sat Apr 18 15:11:24 +0000 2020
"As the virus spreads ... it risks tearing at the societal fabric and undoing whatever progress the U.S. made in re… https://t.co/swmNqyI7gw RANDCorporation (from Santa Monica, California) Sat Apr 18 05:33:00 +0000 2020
Meet the 27 people bridging divides across America. "Apart. Not Alone" made possible by @StateFarm https://t.co/4L9glcWIi5 TIME Wed Apr 15 19:46:34 +0000 2020
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