Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

To Slow Spread Of Coronovirus, End Iran Sanctions

To Slow Spread Of Coronovirus, End Iran Sanctions On 3/13/20 in Foreign Policy Focus, Ariel Gold and Medea Benjamin argue that to improve the global coronavirus problem, sanctions on Iran should be lifted, quite aside from the fact they should never have been imposed in the first place as Iran was adhering to the JCPOA nuclear deal. […]

Shelter in place

The San Francisco Chronicle reports “shelter in place” restrictions.  My daughter lives in Santa Clara county, where schools are closed till April 13. Six Bay Area counties announced a “shelter in place” order for all residents on Monday — the strictest measure of its kind in the country — directing everyone to stay inside their […]

Reporting from Germany: “Welt am Sonntag”

Welt am Sonntag is reporting our honorable President is attempting to bribe lure a German company CureVac to develop a vaccine  to be used only in the US. Germany’s Health Ministry confirmed a report in the newspaper “Welt am Sonntag”, which said President Donald Trump had offered bribes funds to lure the German company CureVac […]

Europe’s Response to Coronavirus and the Implications for the U.S.

Europe’s Response to Coronavirus and the Implications for the U.S. As I listened to the morning news about the coronavirus crisis, I was reminded of this critique of the Eurozone: In a recent conference, the distinguished economist Paul Krugman repeated the oft-heard critique that the eurozone is not an optimal currency area. Waltraud Schelkle disagrees with […]

Benefit-Cost Analysis and the Coronavirus

Benefit-Cost Analysis and the Coronavirus We are in the middle of a flurry of decision-making on how to deal with COVID-19.  After much resistance, officials are now canceling public events, closing schools and discouraging other activities that put us in contact with each other.  Travel restrictions and possible shutdowns of workplaces, as we’ve seen in […]

Weekly Indicators for March 9 – 13 at Seeking Alpha

by New Deal democrat Weekly Indicators for March 9 – 13 at Seeking Alpha My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. There is no clear evidence yet of a drop-off in consumer spending due to the coronavirus in the series I have been tracking, although there is evidence on the producer side. After I […]

Three related metrics of coronavirus

Three related metrics of coronavirus Here are three different but ultimately related updates about the coronavirus pandemic. 1. It is 100x more lethal than the 2009 H1N1 swine flu The latest right-wing disinformation is that Obama waited 6 months to declare the 2009 swine flu an emergency, and 1000 people died. As others have pointed out, […]

Coronavirus update: reason for alarm; (small) reason for hope

Coronavirus update: reason for alarm; (small) reason for hope This weekend has continued the discouraging news: reports just about everywhere that the Young Invulnerables packed the bars Friday night; the Petri dishes of airport security lines packed with Americans returning from Europe; and personally, two friends who I have known for almost 40 years getting […]

Coronavirus Treatment Case Report

“First Case of 2019 Novel Coronavirus in the United States” Holshue et al 2020 I quote Treatment with intravenous remdesivir (a novel nucleotide analogue prodrug in development10,11) was initiated on the evening of day 7, and no adverse events were observed in association with the infusion. Vancomycin was discontinued on the evening of day 7, […]