Coronavirus

Just back from Uruguay, people still carrying on as usual — but we’re sort of thinking this doesn’t sound great. Heading up to Oxford to meet with other partners to talk about the fallout of this virus, where we think it’s headed, what we think the issues will be.

Personally, I’m fully prepared to sound like some sort of prepper with my talk of this thing not being what people say it is — but I’m sorry: I’ve never seen so many countries take such economy-bashing action more or less collectively. Ever.

Like: you’re shutting off air travel into your countries from China? Are you? Are you really? It’s February 6. China announced it had some issue with a novel virus on what, December 31st? We have no cases where I am, none in other places, either. But suddenly we’re closing our borders to incoming flights.

Actually, I can see the logic in all of the above — frankly: well done everyone, and could the rest of the world follow suit, please? Given the way the skies look, it’s not like we can close off ourselves to China without either the rest of the world following suit, or us deciding to block any country that hasn’t blocked China.

Again: drastic, but I’d be cool with that. It says: ‘we’re serious’. It says: ‘this is serious’.

But to close your borders to China while simultaneously being like: ‘this is no big thing, guys — no need to, like, buy in some extra Ramen and long-life milk, nothing to see here’ makes absolutely no sense. Whatsoever.

My colleagues think i’m nuts, so does my family. But I’m sorry, this story doesn’t add up. For China — CHINA — to willingly and willfully hobble itself economically, and for other states that usually bitch about any action against China by the US that might trim like a tenth of a percentage point of GDP to slam demand by barring entry — some serious monster thing is going down.

No matter what anyone else says, this doesn’t make sense otherwise.