RE:RE:RE:It seemsMarcus, restaurants have opened and closed, there has been outdoor dining, much adaptive take-out programs ... but you are correct, the industry is suffering badly because of consumer behaviour regardless. If you live in a place which relies heavily on international tourism, like I do, you see the massive impacts of no cruise ships, severely limited air travel ... in cities like Rome, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Paris, Las Vegas, Nashville, All of the popular beaches in Greece, Turkey, Hawaii, Thailand ... the economic damage and knock-on effects must be significant.
As for health care costs overall, it is complicated because there are a high number of elderly with long-term impairments like dementia who a two week decline to death in the ICU is probably a cost savings to the medical system versus three or four years of care in a long-term care facility. Not unlike some f the claims put forward by health authorities against tobacco companies which got hung up on the fact that smoking fatality in late middle age due to lung cancer probably saves money versus a slower decline for other reasons at an older age.
Profiteering has been rampant in jurisdictions where PPE was legislatively reserved to a central buying authority. China jacked prices through the roof and must have made tens if not hundreds of billions off their near-monopoly on some products like masks and gloves. Makes one suspicious about whether the entire pandemic was a deep state intelligence program of biological warfare intentionally inflicted on the world. Was or is the Xi regime capable of such a crime and aggression? They have certainly proved capable of exporting fentanyl to the world, killing hundreds of thousands, if not millions.
It will take decades of research to figure out what occurred and why? And no doubt some jurisdictions responded with much better public policy and health initiatives than others. Care to nominate the greatest failied response among the G-12? Maybe too far off topic, although Covid and health responses are highly pertinent to gold pricing through the next few years.
Given that interest rates are locked so low, and central bank accommodative policies are a forgone conclusion, and the hand-to-wallet reaction of every major economy will be stimulus relief plus infrastructure spending initiatives ... I’m surprised the gold trade hasn’t already become to one-sided and overheated, which it definitely isn’t at present. Allocations to gold assets remain minuscule compared to negative real-rate US 10 year treasuries and of course the broad equity markets. How can so many people not want a hedge against other inflated asset groups and potential downstream devaluation of money through creeping commodity inflation?
I don’t know but I’m on the long side of the metals trade until conditions appear otherwise.
Stay healthy everybody. This Covid is no joke if you are unlucky. While the percentages may be small, it’s Russian Roullette with a possibly fatal outcome for some. The cavalier attitude of some is shocking. We had an anti-mask rally here a few days ago. Why not rally against seat belts, of child car seats, or motorcycle helmets? I shake my head.
cg