COVID-19 Monitor

Last Updated:October 15, 2020

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Governments eye new taxes on cigarettes, homes and tech giants to pay for big budget shortfalls related to the coronavirus (Washington Post) Published on: June 26, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact, Global Response

Cash-starved cities and states across the country are starting to weigh whether to raise taxes on homes, cigarettes, local businesses and global tech giants, hoping to rake in new revenue that might help them close the massive budget shortfalls created by the coronavirus pandemic.
Philadelphia increased fees on parking and raised wage taxes on workers who reside outside the city. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) said this month she could not rule out a property tax increase to cover her city’s $700 million budget shortfall.
Unlike the federal government, which can cut taxes and rack up huge deficits with impunity, localities generally must balance their budgets each year.

Will the Pandemic Reshape Notions of Female Leadership? (HBR) Published on: June 26, 2020 | Category: Leadership

Countries with women in leadership have suffered six times fewer confirmed deaths from Covid-19 than countries with governments led by men.
Regardless of how robust the evidence might be, or how logical and data-driven the arguments, add to the mix a change in receptivity of the zeitgeist. A small number of female leaders have emerged as a benchmark for what competent leadership looks like — and been applauded for it.
The roller-coaster ride of gender equality over the past few decades may be depressing to some. But this moment, unlike any we’ve ever known, opens new options for the future — millions of them, in fact.

A Pandemic Problem for Older Workers: Will They Have to Retire Sooner? (NY Times) Published on: June 26, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact

It’s still early, but experts believe the pandemic will upend the timing of retirement plans of many older workers.
In some cases, their decisions will be voluntary; in other cases, retirement may be forced upon them by job elimination or unavoidable health risk.
“It could be that what we’re seeing is a continuation of a long-term trend in which seniority-based advantages have been gradually eroding because of the decline in unions, and the shrinking bargaining power of older workers,” Mr. Johnson said. “But health risks related to the virus are also probably a very important factor.”

Zoning adjustments could help cities rebound from coronavirus (Axios) Published on: June 25, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact, Global Response

Cities should ease rigid permitting and zoning rules to help businesses and residents recover during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a trio of policy briefs out today by researchers at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
Restrictions on the amount and type of housing allowed to be built are contributing to the public health crisis by causing overcrowding in some places and unsustainable rents in others.
“Regulatory wiggle room” can go a long way to letting businesses and restaurants open in new locations or allowing residential development in commercial zones, the researchers argue.

Half of all restaurants may not make it to 2021: CEO of Oliver & Bonacini (CP24) Published on: June 25, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business

The head of one of Toronto’s most famous restaurant groups expects half of restaurants will be forced to close by the end of 2020 if they aren’t given additional support.
“First and foremost, I would bet the vast majority of people don’t have patios,” Oliver told BNN Bloomberg. “So there is a huge portion of the industry that is going to be closed.”
Oliver said sales will likely be down 70 per cent for the “vast majority” of restaurants this year and without additional support from the government they won’t survive.

Asia-Pacific makes a tentative return to international travel (FT) Published on: June 25, 2020 | Category: Global Response

Asia will embark on an ultra-cautious return to international travel when about 440 Japanese businesspeople will take “exceptional” flights to Vietnam over the next three days.
According to officials involved in the negotiations, countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are struggling to agree on broader rules for travel as they try to protect the advances they made in controlling coronavirus.
European governments are seeking to restart not just business but also tourist travel before the summer holiday season.

With Unemployment Offices Busy, Recovery Seems a ‘Long Haul’ (NY Times) Published on: June 25, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact

As American businesses reopen in fits and starts — and anxiety over new coronavirus hot spots increases — state unemployment offices still have their hands full.
The total number of people collecting state unemployment insurance for the week ending June 13 was 19.5 million, seasonally adjusted, a decrease of 767,000 from the previous week and down from nearly 25 million in early May.
In a separate report Thursday, the Commerce Department reported that durable goods orders rose 15.8 percent in May, well above the 10.5 percent increase that economists had been expecting.

Politicians ignore far-out risks: they need to up their game (The Economist) Published on: June 25, 2020 | Category: Global Response, Leadership

Low-probability, high-impact events are a fact of life. Individual humans look for protection from them to governments and, if they can afford it, insurers.
Virologists, epidemiologists and ecologists have warned for decades of the dangers of a flu-like disease spilling over from wild animals. But when sars-cov-2 began to spread very few countries had the winning combination of practical plans, the kit those plans required in place and the bureaucratic capacity to enact them.
Keeping an eye on the future is part of what governments are for. Scientists have provided them with the tools for such efforts, but few academics will undertake the work unbidden, unfunded and unsung.
Private business may take some steps when it perceives specific risks, but it will not put together plans for society at large.

A global view of financial life during COVID-19 (McKinsey) Published on: June 25, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact

As of May, across the globe, decision-makers’ perceptions of the health of their national economies were negative and had grown slightly worse since April.
In most countries, between 20 per cent and 60 per cent of decision-makers say they fear for their jobs, with roughly half of these holding four or fewer months of savings.
In May, respondents across all countries reported decreased income and savings on a net basis.

Coronavirus Surge Alarms States, Markets and Businesses; Slow Recovery Feared (NY Times) Published on: June 24, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact, Global Response

On Wednesday, governors, mayors, investors and others across the United States woke up to news that was impossible to ignore.
More than 35,000 new coronavirus cases had been identified the day before. It was the highest number of cases reported in a single day since late April.
It was as if the country had found itself back in March — at the start of the pandemic, in the early days of the lockdown, when masks were in short supply and the death toll was skyrocketing.
In Washington State, where cases are rising again, Gov. Jay Inslee said residents would have to start wearing masks in public.

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