China’s Hubei province is now in the third week of a shutdown triggered by the virus that has killed hundreds of people — and halted an industrial powerhouse the size of SwedenFed chief Jerome Powell has confessed that it’s “very hard” to understand China’s economy. The outbreak of the coronavirus has made that exponentially more difficultIt’s a mad scramble for the best data: Economists are grappling with ways to gauge the real-time impact of the coronavirus on the world economy, even as the outbreak continues to confound forecastersHundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens who live abroad but returned home for the Lunar New Year are now stuck in the countryStable employment — a top priority for China — is under threat from the virus outbreak. The damage will determine the intensity of stimulus, writes Chang Shu. Chinese travel over the Spring Festival period declined 40% from a year earlier, the transport ministry saidSingapore authorities urged residents to relax on their shopping sprees that have emptied supermarket shelvesNew Zealand’s “shadow board” recommended the central bank stand pat on interest rates at this week’s meetingPresident Donald Trump’s proposed budget includes $4.8 trillion in spending for fiscal 2021, but slow-walks plans to trim the deficit. Meantime, Larry Summers is worried tax cuts may lead the economy into financial difficultiesItaly’s central bank governor sees “significant” risks to the country’s fragile economyBank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron just got a timely reinforcement in his bid to rein in the shekelGoldman sees Turkey’s central bank bringing interest rates to single digits within months, as demanded by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, before they start to rise againRussia’s winter was so balmy that snow was trucked into Moscow for New Year, and bears came out of hibernation. In Japan, ski competitions were canceled and a snow festival had to borrow snow. The warmest January on record is a problem for the energy industry
