Category Archives: Economy
World Health Organization and China Relationship
The World Health Organization and China seem to have an unhealthy relationship.
That is to say, it’s sort of like a pirate to parrot relationship. China speaks and the WHO repeats:
The most notorious example came in the form of a single tweet from the WHO account on January 14: “Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel #coronavirus.” That same day, the Wuhan Health Commission’s public bulletindeclared, “We have not found proof for human-to-human transmission.”
Kathy Gilsinan, The Atlantic
World Health Organization and China
President Trump also has “kissing up” issues with China. For instance, on Jan 24 he had this to say:
“China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!”
Politico
Still he did restrict travel from China 5 days later – with the usual Trumpian embellishment that he did it over the objection of experts. After all, it’s not like he’s putting his name on stimulus checks. Oh wait, he is.
Anyway, last week he suspended U.S. funding for the WHO.
Bernie Quits Before Drug Companies Find a Cure
Bernie quit just as things were finally going his way. Thanks to Covid-19 the government is spending like crazy, we have fee health care and fracking is dead. So he’s dropped out of the race.
Smart move. Drug companies big and small are working on treatments and vaccines. And before you know it, we’ll right back where we started.
Authoritarian Itch Gets Scratched During Pandemic
If you have an authoritarian itch, the Covid-19 pandemic provides a great opportunity to scratch it.
Andrew McCarthy and David Harsanyi write in National Review about authoritarian overreach.
A father in Colorado was briefly handcuffed for playing t-ball with his 6-year old daughter. Meanwhile, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer shut down the sale of fruit and vegetables at garden stores. And NYC Mayor de Blasio threatened to seize churches.
Shutting down church services was a big theme:
Two days before Easter, Louisville, Ky., mayor Greg Fischer attempted to unilaterally ban drive-in church services for the most holy day in Christianity.
David Harsanyi
But U.S. District Judge Justin Walker overruled the mayor. And maybe the judge was scratching that itch himself when he claimed, “On Holy Thursday, an American mayor criminalized the communal celebration of Easter.”
But, it’s still best to be king. As President Trump says:
When somebody’s the president of the United States, the authority is total.
Race Against Time, Virus vs. Savings
It’s a race against time. Can the virus be spent before your savings?
701,000 American jobs were lost in March and the unemployment rate rose from 3.5% to 4.4% in one month according to the WSJ.
Meanwhile, The Guardian says about 35 companies are working on a vaccine and Moderna is about to begin human testing. And “many many‘ groups are working on immunity-giving antibody tests that provide results in minutes.
April Fools, We’re All Going Into Comas and Nobody Dies
My April Fools cartoon. We’re all going into medically induced comas. And that way, Nobody dies. Nobody dies.
