Bloomberg (March 25)
“It’s the worst epidemic of our times, a health emergency that has now left more than 420,000 infected, 18,800 dead and paralyzed the global economy. The scale has been clear for weeks.”Yet the same “baffling” decisions are “being repeated, over and over again. From Italy to the U.S. and Britain, each government first believes its country to be less exposed than it is, overestimates its ability to control the situation, ignores the real-time experience of others and ultimately scrambles to take measures.”
Tags: Baffling, Dead, Decisions, Emergency, Epidemic, Global economy, Health, Infected, Italy, Paralyzed, Repeated, U.S.
Reuters (March 23)
“China is consciously uncoupling from Western peers on rates. Its central bank has held lending benchmarks steady as global peers slash…. The People’s Bank of China’s relative immobility has surprised many economists…. The spread between 10-year Chinese government bonds and U.S. Treasuries is nearly two percentage points, its widest since 2015.”
Tags: Benchmarks, Central bank, China, Economists, PBOC, Rates, Spread, Steady, U.S., Uncoupling, Western
Foreign Policy (March 18)
“Sorry, America, the full lockdown is coming. Politicians won’t admit it yet, but it’s time to prepare—physically and psychologically—for a sudden stop to all life outside your home.” As borders shut, it’s time to ask, “Where, and with whom, do you want to spend the next six to 12 weeks of your life, hunkered down for the epidemic duration?”
Tags: Borders, Life, Lockdown, Physically, Politicians, Psychologically, U.S.
Washington Examiner (March 17)
China is expelling all of the American journalists for the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal. “The U.S. should take robust action. President Trump should direct Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to expel the Chinese ambassador…. We must stand up for our most sacred values.”
Tags: Action, Ambassador, China, Expelling, Journalists, New York Times, Pompeo, Trump, U.S., Wall Street Journal, Washington Post
New York Times (March 13)
“China bought the West time. The West squandered it.” In the U.S. and Europe, the attitude has largely “been bizarrely reactive, if not outright passive… governments in those regions have let pass their best chance to contain the virus’s spread.” Why did “so many countries watch the epidemic unfold for weeks as though it was none of their concern?”
Tags: Bizarre Reactive, China, Epidemic, Europe, Governments, Passive, Spread, Squandered, Time, U.S., Virus
Bloomberg (March 7)
“A second hit could be coming for China’s economy after its initial shock from the coronavirus…. While China has seen new cases of the virus slow,” growing cases in “the U.S. and Europe…could knock a half percentage point off of China’s gross domestic product for the year as demand for Chinese goods slows.”
Wall Street Journal (March 4)
“The Federal Reserve has become the default doctor for whatever ails the U.S. economy, and on Tuesday the financial physician applied what it hopes will be monetary balm for the economic damage from the coronavirus.” Alas “financial markets were underwhelmed.” This “may speak to the limited effect that lower interest rates can have on the supply shock of a pandemic.”
Tags: Coronavirus, Damage, Economy, Fed, Interest rates, Markets, Monetary balm, Supply shock, U.S., Underwhelmed
Los Angeles Times (February 5)
“No one should be surprised that President Trump was acquitted by the U.S. Senate. That outcome was a virtual certainty from the start of the impeachment process. But that doesn’t make it any less disheartening and dangerous.” The President’s acquittal “is a stain on American history and a dangerous marker of what’s to come.”
Tags: Acquittal, Dangerous, Disheartening, Impeachment, Senate, Stain, Surprised, Trump, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (February 2)
“Investors are betting the volatility that has rattled markets over the past two weeks is here to stay. Many are bracing for dramatic swings in stocks as the U.S. presidential election season ramps up and investors assess the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on global economic activity.”
Tags: Coronavirus, Election, Impact, Investors, Markets, Outbreak, Rattled, Stocks, U.S., Volatility
Financial Times (January 28)
“Donald Trump has become the pantomime villain for the climate change story…. However, if you look at the numbers—as opposed to the theatre—it becomes clear that the battle to control climate change now depends much more on what happens in China than in America.”
Tags: China, Climate change, Trump, U.S., Villain
