Connecting the Dots

The novel coronavirus is destroying human lives: almost 170,000 worldwide as I write this, including 40,000+ in the United States.

US unemployment shot higher in the last month, thanks to coronavirus closures. Some 17 million people filed new jobless benefit claims.

When (hopefully soon) we all get out of coronavirus lockdown and try to resume normal life, we will probably find a different “normal.”

“The new coronavirus is changing everything,” say many pundits.

Following the coronavirus news from home? Good for you. Home is where we should all be, except for medical, food, public safety, and other essential workers.

Bought any groceries lately? You probably weren’t alone. Nor were you surrounded by crazy people. The store mobs are perfectly rational, given recent events.

Financial professionals talk about all kinds of risk: credit risk, interest rate risk, political risk, inflation risk… the list goes on. Now, we have a new one.

The COVID-19 virus is pushing an economy that was already approaching a cliff. Will it go over the edge?

 “A specter is haunting American capitalists—the specter of Bernie Sanders.”

Last week, the Senate Banking Committee held a confirmation hearing for Judy Shelton, whom President Trump has nominated to the Federal Reserve Board.

Allegedly smart people say the economy depends on the election and the election depends on the economy.

Many 2020 market forecasts say politics will be a key factor this year. The US is starkly divided between parties with radically different policy agendas.