Tag "coronavirus"
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The Great Equaliser That Was Not
In a macabre spin on the corona pandemic, some sociologists and economists tentatively hail the deadly virus as the great equaliser they had been waiting for: the great event that forces the global community to re-examine its destructive ways. History
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Business in Times of Corona: The Lure of Rustbelts When Lean Is No Longer Mean
During their short lifetime, shrimp barely migrate. Aided by a snap of their tail and the tidal currents, the crustaceans may cover a distance of perhaps a few thousand meters in a day. However, once caught, shrimp become a migrating
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Business in Times of Corona: The Welfare State May Yet Prove Its Worth
The currently much deplored absence of a social security safety net is a feature – and not necessarily a bug – of the essentially wage-driven growth model that underpins the US economy. However, under the present exceptional circumstances the script
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Blessings, Curses, Co-operation and Collaboration – the Virus is Forcing Knowledge upon us
No one was expecting this. No one knows what will happen next. Does that make this a time to hunker down and wait, to stand on something and watch, or to gamely strive for business-as-usual-as-possible? In that most nebulous and
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Business in Times of Corona: A Gathering Storm Darkens the Prospects of Africa
Even before the corona virus made its presence known, market analysts had no need for prescient powers to predict trouble ahead for South Africa. Already in February, consumer and business confidence had approached a 30-year low as the country’s anaemic
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Business in Times of Corona: The Dangerous Fruit of the Magic Money Tree
In one of life’s little ironies, it was not the senator from Vermont but the billionaire businessman from New York who brought social democracy to the United States. The massive federal aid package now working its way through Congress is
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Business in Times of Corona: Pandemic Puts Eurobonds Back on the Table
The leaders of nine Eurozone countries on Wednesday refloated the previously discarded idea of issuing Eurobonds, a collective debt instrument backed by the combined securities of participating countries, as a way of pooling risk and mitigating the economic impact of
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Business in Times of Corona: Wise Words from Omaha
The life lesson imparted by the Oracle of Omaha does not require much deciphering: Cash is King. Long criticised for hoarding large amounts of readily deployable cash, the third largest publicly listed company in the world, Berkshire Hathaway, stands to
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Looking for Bounce: Analysts Expect Short V-Shaped Recession
Ray Dalio, founder and CEO of hedge fund manager Bridgewater Associates, expects US corporations to lose at least $4 trillion due to the economic damage wrought by the corona pandemic. He calls for the doubling of the aid package being
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Business in Times of Corona: Time to Make America Great Again
The corona pandemic rapidly engulfing the world has led to a sudden reversal in the plight of the nation state as a concept. Rescued from well-deserved oblivion, even smaller countries that have traditionally embraced multilateralism as the only viable way
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