epidemic – Page 24 – Desdemona Despair

U.S. gross domestic product, 1950-2020. Gross domestic product — the broadest measure of economic activity — shrank at an annual rate of 32.9 percent in the second quarter of 2020 as restaurants and retailers closed their doors in a desperate effort to slow the spread of the virus, which has killed more than 150,000 people in the U.S. The economic shock in April, May, and June was more than three times as sharp as the previous record — 10 percent in 1958 — and nearly four times the worst quarter during the Great Recession. Data: Bureau of Economic Analysis. Graphic: Alyson Hurt / NPR

July 30, 2020

3 months of hell: U.S. economy drops 32.9 percent in worst GDP report ever – “We’re not going to get to the pre-pandemic levels of economic activity until sometime in 2022”

By Scott Horsley 30 July 2020 (NPR) – The coronavirus pandemic triggered the sharpest economic contraction in modern American history, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Gross domestic product — the broadest measure of economic activity — shrank at an annual rate of 32.9% in the second quarter as restaurants and retailers closed their doors in a […]

Map showing the most commonly used opioid, 2018 or latest available data. Data: UNODC, responses to the annual report questionnaire. Graphic: UNODC

June 26, 2020

UN World Drug Report 2020: Global drug use increased 30 percent from 2009 – COVID-19 has far reaching impact on global drug markets

VIENNA, 25 June 2020 (UNODC) – Around 269 million people used drugs worldwide in 2018, which is 30 per cent more than in 2009, while over 35 million people suffer from drug use disorders, according to the latest World Drug Report, released today by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The Report […]

World gross product, level and annual changes, 2010–2020 and projected through 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic has paralyzed large parts of the global economy, sharply restricting economic activities, increasing uncertainties and unleashing a recession unseen since the Great Depression. Global gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to shrink by 3.2 per cent in 2020, with only a gradual recovery of lost output projected for 2021. Cumulatively, the world economy is expected to lose nearly $8.5 trillion in output in 2020 and 2021, nearly wiping out the cumulative output gains of the previous four years. Data: UN DESA, based on scenarios produced with the World Economic Forecasting Model (WEFM). Graphic: UN DESA

June 22, 2020

UN World Economic Situation report: Global economy to contract by 3.2 percent in 2020 – 34 million people to fall below the extreme poverty line

13 May 2020 (UNDESA) – Against the backdrop of a devastating pandemic, the global economy is projected to contract sharply by 3.2 per cent this year, according to the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) mid-2020 report, released today. The global economy is expected to lose nearly $8.5 trillion in output over the […]

World consumption of primary energy in exajoules, 1994-2019. Primary energy consumption rose by 1.3 percent in 2019, less than half its rate in 2018 (2.8 percent). Growth was driven by renewables (3.2 EJ) and natural gas (2.8 EJ), which together contributed three quarters of the increase. All fuels grew at a slower rate than their 10-year averages, apart from nuclear, with coal consumption falling for the fourth time in six years (-0.9 EJ). By region, consumption fell in North America, Europe and CIS, and growth was below average in South and Central America. In the other regions, growth was roughly in line with historical averages. China was the biggest individual driver of primary energy growth, accounting for more than three quarters of net global growth. Oil continues to hold the largest share of the energy mix (33.1 percent). Coal is the second largest fuel but lost share in 2019 to account for 27.0 percent, its lowest level since 2003. The share of both natural gas and renewables rose to record highs of 24.2 percent and 5.0 percent respectively. Renewables has now overtaken nuclear, which makes up only 4.3 percent of the energy mix. The share of hydroelectricity has been stable at around 6 percent for several years. Graphic: BP

June 18, 2020

BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2020: Carbon emissions increase for another year, coal still the single largest source of power generation

By Bernard Looney 17 June 2020 (BP) – The COVID-19 pandemic may well turn out to be the most tragic and disruptive event that many of us will ever live through. As I write this – in the middle of June – over 400 thousand people globally have lost their lives to the infection. Millions […]

A performance protest on 15 June 2020 in Brasilia honors Brazilians who died after contracting the novel coronavirus. Photo: Adriano Machado / Reuters

June 16, 2020

Brazil ignored the warnings about COVID-19 – “A human catastrophe of unimaginable proportions”

By Terrence McCoy 16 June 2020 RIO DE JANEIRO (The Washington Post) – Weeks ago, when this seaside metropolis had recorded fewer than 10,000 cases of the novel coronavirus and there still appeared to be time, some of Brazil’s most respected scientists made their last-ditch appeal. The country had reached a pivotal juncture. Cases were […]

Collateralized loan obligations (CLOs): An Illustrated Guide. Data: Fitch Ratings. The fourth CLO depicts an aggregate leveraged-loan default rate of 78 percent. Graphic: the Atlantic

June 14, 2020

The looming bank collapse – “This crisis is more horrifying than I anticipated”

By Frank Partnoy 14 June 2020 (The Atlantic) – After months of living with the coronavirus pandemic, American citizens are well aware of the toll it has taken on the economy: broken supply chains, record unemployment, failing small businesses. All of these factors are serious and could mire the United States in a deep, prolonged […]

UN Secretary-General António Guterres warns of a global food crisis caused by Covid-19 during a speech on 9 June 2020. Photo: UN News

June 14, 2020

UN warns of global food crisis – “It is increasingly clear that there is an impending global food emergency that could have long term impacts on hundreds of millions of children and adults”

9 June 2020 (UN News) – Although the COVID-19 pandemic could push nearly 50 million more people into extreme poverty, this and other dire impacts of the crisis can be avoided if countries act immediately to shore up global food security, the UN Secretary-General said on Tuesday. For his latest policy brief on the pandemic, […]

Map showing the Global Peace Index for 2020. The average level of global peacefulness deteriorated 0.34 percent on the 2020 GPI. This is the ninth time in the last 12 years that global peacefulness has deteriorated. Graphic: Institute for Economics and Peace

June 13, 2020

Global peacefulness falls for the fourth time in the last five years – “We find ourselves at a critical juncture”

11 June 2020 (Institute for Economics and Peace) – This is the 14th edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI), which ranks 163 independent states and territories according to their level of peacefulness. In addition to presenting the findings from the 2020 GPI, this year’s report includes an analysis of the effect of the COVID-19 […]

Screenshot from “Honest Government Ad: Economic Recovery”. Photo: The Juice Media

June 9, 2020

Honest Government Ad: Economic Recovery in Australia

4 June 2020 (The Juice Media) – Hello, I’m from the Australian government. As we head into the worst economic recession in living history, what the nation needs now is leadership, evidence-based policies, and bold vision. And fucked if we have those. So instead, we’ve cooked up something else. That’s right, while you’ve been in […]

Growth in U.S. economic output for ten generations. This graph shows how much inflation-adjusted gross domestic product per person grew during each generation's first fifteen years in the workforce, starting at age 18, averaged across all the birth years within each generation. Data are adjusted for population. Graphic: The Washington Post

May 30, 2020

Millennials are the unluckiest generation in U.S. history – “It’s not just that it’s a bad recession, and that it’s hitting young people more, but that it’s hitting people who have already been hit”

By Andrew Van Dam 27 March 2020 (The Washington Post) – After accounting for the present crisis, the average millennial has experienced slower economic growth since entering the workforce than any other generation in U.S. history. Millennials will bear these economic scars over the rest of their lives, in the form of lower earnings, lower […]