Corona Capital: Mixed market messages, Chile votes 26 Oct 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Global stocks slumped on Monday as Covid-19 cases rose – yet some prognosticators are readying for major stimulus; and Chile has shown that pandemics don’t have to squash voter turnout.
Review: Green sceptic sheds more heat than light 23 Oct 2020 Bjorn Lomborg wants the world to understand the risks of doing too much on climate change as well as too little. The green firmament should not be immune to constructive criticism. But the Danish academic’s arguments are not convincing enough to warrant societal complacency.
Corona Capital: Gilead Sciences, Virtual Santa 23 Oct 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Remdesivir gets formal approval; Santa goes missing from Macy’s.
Nigeria unrest throws petrol on economic bonfire 23 Oct 2020 The army is offering to deploy to quell protests against police brutality. That would fan tensions, the last thing the country needs. Africa’s biggest economy is on the ropes due to Covid-19 and low oil prices. Trouble in the oil-producing Niger Delta would bring it to its knees.
Corona Capital: Quibi 22 Oct 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Video streaming company Quibi’s failure is in spite of – not because of – the Covid-19 pandemic.
Corona Capital: U.S. state budget woes 20 Oct 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Some conservative U.S. states are hurting as much as liberal New York.
Joe Biden’s tax plan has a flaw: too many losers 19 Oct 2020 The presidential candidate pledges to slap new levies only on the very wealthy. But his plan to raise the corporate rate may mean that workers receive lower wages by 2030 than they would otherwise. This points to a tax system that punishes the rich without helping the poor.
Review: Picking the turning point in inflation 16 Oct 2020 In “The Great Demographic Reversal”, Charles Goodhart and Manoj Pradhan make a good case for why prices will take off. Ageing societies need more carers and labour scarcity may finally lift wages. But they’re perhaps too sanguine on how soon pandemic-stricken economies can heal.
Europe’s lockdown redux reflects befuddled states 15 Oct 2020 From London to Berlin, authorities are imposing new restrictions to limit another spike in Covid-19 cases. Even without controls, economies would suffer as people stay home. Seven months into the pandemic, Western governments are still searching for a way to live with the virus.
Corona Capital: Kazakhs, Norwegians, Airlines 15 Oct 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Kaspi gives ECM bankers something to smile about; Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has a so-so third quarter; and United Airlines has more bad news on jobs.
IMF global forecast upgrade is laden with gloom 13 Oct 2020 The Washington-based lender expects a less severe world economic contraction in 2020 than before. That’s almost irrelevant given a litany of problems. Inequality is rising, as is indebtedness. Economic scarring will make both harder to reverse, and tough policy choices abound.
Corona Capital: Oil, Delta, Hunger 13 Oct 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: OPEC and the International Energy Agency issue forecasts that bode ill for crude demand; the U.S. airline steers through turbulence; and a food crisis is exacerbating problems facing the most vulnerable in society.
Corona Capital: Bankers, Virus vices, Student digs 8 Oct 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Japan’s Mizuho tries to get its employees to take it easy; smokers and gamblers struggle to kick the habit during lockdown; UK landlord Unite Group finds even student property is not immune to Covid-19.
Corona Capital: Tech upgrades, Ruby Tuesday 7 Oct 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Indian IT giant TCS is betting the work-from-home boost to its earnings marks the beginning of a years-long boom; U.S. restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday’s bankruptcy offers a lesson in creative culinary destruction.
Corona Capital: Fiscal stimulus, Fitness riches 6 Oct 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Central bankers including the Federal Reserve’s Jerome Powell urge more fiscal help as Covid-19 cases rise again; and the owner of NordicTrack treadmills raises cash at a $7 billion-plus valuation.
HK migrants likely to give UK only a tiny boost 6 Oct 2020 The British government thinks 200,000 Hong Kongers will take up the former colonist’s offer of legal residence. That would add less than 1% to GDP, only a rounding error in comparison to the likely post-Brexit pain from lost EU migrants, and possible retaliation from Beijing.
Corona Capital: NYC 30 Sep 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: New York City’s economic reboot comes up against a new outbreak.
Guest view: Another lost decade for Latin America? 29 Sep 2020 The region is grappling with three challenges, which when combined pose the gravest threat seen in over a century, argues former Citibank Chairman William Rhodes. Leaders can, and must, use the Covid-19 crisis to make long overdue reforms, build institutions and expand trade.
Corona Capital: U.S. sports’ virus-bubble success 29 Sep 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Professional hockey and basketball associations scored victories keeping infection rates low or at zero in spectator-free games. And less traveling and more sleep helped players up their game. Wall Street take note.
Corona Capital: Vaccines, Olive Garden, Oil 24 Sep 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Vaccine concerns are bad for the economy; cravings for never-ending pasta bowls return; and oil practitioners tell sad truths.