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

Moscow Mitch was hoping the fever would break

The closing remarks of Moscow Mitch McConnell statement before the vote to spare Donald John Trump his presidency. He was talking about “factional fever” that the “framers” referred to as a concern for majorities acting in a partisan manor.  And yet, here we are.

Bailouts

Given the Coronavirus crisis, there will be bailouts. Should there be bailouts ? If so how should firms be bailed out ? I think it is useful to look at the last round of bailouts from 2008-9 for lessons learned. First with the benefit of hindsight, does it seem that bailing out firms was a […]

Remdesivir II

This is, in fact, another post on Coronavirus, but it will take me a while to get to the point. To put the conclusion here, I think that it is important to get the FDA out of the way (by executive order if necessary). The Food and Drug Act, as currently interpreted, requires the assumption […]

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 […]

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, […]

Life in Rome

I am in a city with a curfew (enforced ?) where only pharmacies, supermarkets and those stores where someone from China sells all sorts of household stuff are open. Rome hasn’t reached the dread levels of Wuhan and Milan, but the Italian government is trying to get ahead of the curve. It is strange and […]

This is what exponential growth looks like

This is what exponential growth looks like I’ve placed an added emphasis on high frequency indicators, as they will be the first to show the impact of coronavirus on the economy. This morning chain store sales for last week were reported. They were: – Redbook +6.0% YoY – Retail Economist unchanged w/w, +0.9% YoY Needless […]

Turn Up the Humidity in Your House

This is coming from MEDPAGE TODAY, “Track the U.S. COVID-19 Outbreak in Real Time,” Comments Section (3 comments), March 11, 2020 with regard to  COVID-19 The mechanism of seasonal effect for seasonal respiratory virus spread is believed to be humidity, not temperature. In New York state, which has 220 cases, fomites lose moisture where indoor […]

A “Wild and Dangerous” Scheme!

“…a scheme at once wild and dangerous.” “…a trick, too, of the clumsiest description…” I was hunting for the exact location of “Prince’s Tavern” in Manchester in 1833 when I stumbled upon an Economist article from March 30, 1844 addressing the “practical consequences” of  reducing the length of the factory working day from 12 hours […]