Shocking Deflationary Depression On the Way

*Could our local hospitals handle this?

Italy reports 25 percent spike in coronavirus death toll, in deadliest 24-hour span to date

ROME — Italy on Sunday announced a 25 percent spike in its coronavirus death toll, reporting 368 deaths in the deadliest 24-hour span to date.

The country’s death roll has risen at an alarming rate: In each of the past three days, at least 200 people have been reported dead because of the virus. It was only three weeks ago that Italy had its first reported death from the virus. Now, more than 1,800 people have died.

The total number of active cases has been rising roughly 20 percent daily, and the government’s nationwide lockdown — restricting movement and stopping most commercial activity — has not yet caused a slowdown.

Some two-thirds of Italy’s deaths have happened in the region at the center of the outbreak, Lombardy. There, because of overloaded hospitals, the official fatality rate is more than 9 percent, according to government data. In the rest of the country, it is 5.1 percent. By either measure, Italy’s death rate is higher than other countries’ — in part because it has a larger proportion of seniors than any country other than Japan.

* I think it is baked into the cake. It is a inevitability. Our politicians need to prepare us for this. Panic more than we can imagine would happen, if we are deep in a Pandemic with bodies piling us, then we realize our economy collapses and it will be around for maybe a decade for us to repair it.   

Japanese minister says virus may be worse for economy than 2008 financial crisis

BLOOMBERG, REUTERS

MAR 15, 2020

The effect of the new coronavirus on the economy could be worse than the 2008 financial crisis, economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said Sunday.

Speaking on Fuji Television, Nishimura called for strong measures to protect the economy and said proper consideration should be given to whether reducing the sales tax would bolster consumption.

The economy was already teetering on the brink of recession when the effect of the virus began to kick in, partly due to an increase in the sales tax to 10 percent in October from the previous 8 percent. Some have called for the increase to be reversed to help encourage consumption.

“This may be on a par with the Lehman shock, or even worse,” Nishimura said, referring to the 2008 collapse of the Lehman Brothers U.S. investment bank. “We need measures on the same scale. They should be bold and not limited by what’s been done before.”