There is only one story in town: COVID-19. While these are unprecedented and extremely worrying times from a range of perspectives, including public health, health infrastructure, medical/pharmaceutical supplies, mass unemployment, economic contraction and falling equities prices and bond yields, we are optimistic that light is becoming visible at the end of this harrowing tunnel.
Henry James International Management February 2020 Market Commentary
Since last month’s entry, coronavirus – or for the more technical among us, COVID-19 – has gone from theoretically worrying to officially scary, life-changing and economically devastating. A short time ago coronavirus was mostly China’s problem and was a situation that we in the West looked at with genuine worry and sympathy. Now, no country is immune from the devastating impact of this virus on virtually every aspect of life. The effect of the coronavirus on China can be seen as a harbinger of the impacts of the virus on other societies and economies. Initially the West was seemingly mostly concerned about the economic effects of a disruption to supply chains and was reluctant to take precautions. That has all changed as virtually every country in the world is taking extraordinary steps to abate the spread of this pandemic.