Archive du jour : octobre 27, 2020
One of the striking effects of the Covid 19 pandemic has been the dramatic increase in the disconnection between finance and the real economy in the United States and Europe. In China there is a similarly growing disjuncture between house prices and economic fundamentals. Both cases show a process of asset inflation driven by a frenzy of investment in a context of deflationary pressure. But the comparison ends there, because the dynamics of real estate investment in China respond to the logic of a sui generis[1] capitalist regime that has placed the extraction of land value at the heart of its economic model.
Covid-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has been contained in China through stringent non-pharmaceutical interventions. The border control and quarantine have effectively prevented the virus spread by infected travellers, but the risk of resurgence caused by other routes of introduction and transmission remains unclear, and current strategies to prevent resurgence could be flawed. Since July, SARS-CoV-2 RNA contaminations in frozen food imported from countries with ongoing epidemics have been reported in nine provinces in China. However, there is no robust evidence of Covid-19 outbreaks initiated by environment-to-human transmission. Here we add to evidence of such transmission by investigating the recent Covid-19 resurgence in Beijing.
Strengthening social and economic distancing measures in response to rising COVID-19 cases will hurt the economy, whereas allowing normal economic activity could lead to a further spread of the virus. Given that situation, South Korea faces a prisoner’s dilemma of damaging both public health and economic health. Therefore, the role of businesses in the response to COVID-19 should be emphasized, alongside encouraging the public to accept social and economic distancing measures. South Korea’s current response is active intervention, where the goal is to diagnose cases in the early stages, contact trace, isolate those exposed or infected and treat cases. However, should the COVID-19 pandemic turn out to be prolonged, economic activities should be resumed, requiring South Korea to seek herd immunity and focus on protecting high-risk groups.
– Coronavirus pandemic and the rise of its big players could be game-changer for Chinese vaccine industry, experts say
– Small, fragmented companies and a focus on domestic market have obscured the size of a sector which is one of the world’s largest
