Society

Cox: Quarantine in Switzerland is surprise luxury

19 May 2020

As the country reopens, the cliché of neighbours chastising you for not sorting recycling properly is to be praised. The key takeaway: a society that prizes self-responsibility, respects rules and institutions and plans for rainy days is a good place to shelter from the storm.

Viewsroom: Cashing out of BlackRock

14 May 2020

Boss Larry Fink has lost his biggest shareholder, and former owner as U.S. bank PNC sells its 22% stake in the world’s largest money manager. But the exit could be beneficial for both firms. Plus: Sweden’s Covid-19 plan will be hard to replicate. And: online dating in a pandemic.

Hadas: Welfare states will be big Covid-19 winners

13 May 2020

National systems of income support and social care are being expanded in the fight against the pandemic. Some of the special welfare measures are going to become permanent parts of governments’ repertoire. That will benefit marginalised groups, especially in the United States.

Swedish virus outcomes will be hard to copy

12 May 2020

The only Western state not to enforce a lockdown has a higher death rate than Nordic peers but lower than Britain or Italy. Its economy will emerge less scarred. But that’s also because of generous welfare and the fiscal room it’s using to compensate companies for lost sales.

Critical workers hold keys to higher minimum pay

6 May 2020

U.S. ambulance drivers make under $15 per hour, EMTs under $20. And “essential” retail staff make about $13. These and others indispensable in a lockdown and at risk on the Covid-19 front line are under-rewarded. Any post-virus rethink of supply chains must also include wages.

Will casual sex get shafted by the pandemic?

6 May 2020

That’s what dating apps like Tinder, Match and Bumble are trying to answer. Diseases like AIDS changed intimacy patterns before. Covid-19 will make it harder for lovers to swipe right with peace of mind. But more engagement, if fewer hookups, may benefit the matchmaker model.

Virus state aid needs taper to avoid tantrum

5 May 2020

As governments lift restrictions, they face tough choices about weaning companies and workers off public support. Different industries require different timetables. Withdrawals should also be phased. The state can’t help indefinitely, but a sudden break would be too big a shock.

Offices will get roomier when the virus passes

4 May 2020

Conventional wisdom seems to be that after the pandemic commercial landlords will be crushed as staff stay home. But there’s a counterargument that cooped-up workers will crave interaction, employers will need to space them further apart and put an end to unhealthy hot-desking.

Review: A grim look at bad American exceptionalism

1 May 2020

“Deaths of Despair” analyses the sharp rise in U.S. mortality from suicide, alcohol and drugs, especially among poor whites. As Covid-19 further widens social divisions, the lament of economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton looks prescient. America fails its weakest residents.

Phones will restore freedom at the cost of privacy

30 Apr 2020

Contact-tracing apps like Apple-Google’s will allow more public mobility but only if related testing is quick and easy, and everybody plays ball. That means democracies will wave sticks, disguised as carrots, to encourage use. Good results would outweigh the Orwellian overtones.

U.S. moviegoers will never again fill theaters

29 Apr 2020

Attendance was already declining, and Covid-19 has completely shut down the likes of AMC. Netflix is ascendant, and Comcast's Universal managed a successful release of "Trolls" without cinemas. Add wariness of social contact, and the industry's bleak future may already be here.

Earth Day’s 50th comes at just the right moment

22 Apr 2020

Half a century ago, Americans protested in droves for cleaner air and water. But progress has slowed, or been undone, while air pollution costs the global economy $3 trln a year. The pandemic has given a taste of a less smoggy world that could bolster efforts to cut emissions.

U.S. virus bailouts portend Occupy Wall Street 2.0

20 Apr 2020

Uncle Sam is helping out everyone from Harvard to hedge fund managers to Potbelly in its emergency relief programs. A hastily structured deal and inadequate oversight are allowing room for taking advantage. That may be a necessary evil, but it will also fuel the backlash.

Review: Facebook and Instagram deserve each other

17 Apr 2020

The social network had a tense relationship with the photo-sharing app it bought in 2012. Sarah Frier’s “No Filter” offers fresh insight into the troubled $1 bln deal. A bigger problem was that their common pursuit of a higher purpose obscured the threat they posed to society.

Chaotic 2020 rips up America’s electoral script

14 Apr 2020

This year’s presidential primary season has been full of plot twists – from the Iowa debacle to Joe Biden’s comeback to, of course, Covid-19 and the unprecedented economic upheaval. Breakingviews imagines a lecture given in 2050 on the year U.S. elections changed forever.

Guest view: Can we achieve gender equality?

8 Apr 2020

In an unequal world, the coronavirus pandemic hurts women disproportionately. They are on the frontlines of the fight caring for the sick but are more exposed to hardships. Women might end up suffering the most while saving the world. Leaders can respond now to fix the equation.

Payment companies will emerge as lockdown winners

3 Apr 2020

Reluctance to touch banknotes and fewer chances to spend them are speeding the shift to digital money. The $1.9 trln global industry will take a short-term hit from lower volumes. But once the pandemic eases, cash will be less relevant. The likes of Adyen and Nexi should benefit.

Cox: What will change after coronavirus passes?

1 Apr 2020

Much depends on the pandemic’s ultimate human cost and the duration of lockdowns. Early indicators point to stronger social safety nets, fatter corporate balance sheets, less travel, the demise of cash, warped social interactions and better hygiene. And that’s just the start.

Hadas: The world needs to declare bankruptcy

31 Mar 2020

Debts have been out of alignment with the real economy for years. The coronavirus shutdown will magnify the imbalance. Finance has become an economic burden. A Chapter 11-style restructuring of the global balance sheet is the cure, but that’s too much for today’s politicians.

Corona Capital: Rich vs. poor, Carnival

31 Mar 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: The rich may save even more while the coronavirus rages while the poor will be further squeezed, and Carnival tries to bail out its sinking cruise business with a big sale of equity and debt.