What caught my eye this week.
The lockdown continues, with the predictable result that the global economy has fallen off a cliff in barely a fortnight.
I’ll repeat again – we cannot take many months of this.
I continue to have doubts about how we’re approaching this crisis, whilst conceding most policy makers are striving to do the right thing with incomplete data and faced with horrible choices. It’s easy for pundits with blogs to speculate about alternative approaches. Rather different if you hold people’s lives in your hands.
Anyway, the links below – offering several different perspectives – cover where we’re at.
To be honest, social distancing rather suits me. I know others are finding it very tough going. Extroverts have owned the world for 30 years, and being asked to sit in a quiet room alone is alien. And nearly all of us could do with putting an arm around a friend again.
I thought the Farnham Street blog had a nice take on making the best of things:
What’s important is that you find an activity that lets you move past fear and panic, to reconnect with what gives your life meaning.
When you engage with an activity that gives you pleasure and releases negative emotions, it allows you to rediscover what is important to you.
Wouldn’t that be a wonderful dividend from disaster, even as cash dividends are cancelled?
The markets continue to do their thing. While the plunge was heart-stopping, I don’t think many shares are at bargain basement levels. With rates at zero and only a year’s worth of profits definitely set to be eviscerated, maybe they shouldn’t be? I’m not worried about most of my investments on even a medium-term view, let alone the long-term.1
This weekend will be hard. The sun will be out. Doctors and nurses will again be going into the trenches while most of us hide it out safe behind the lines.
Whatever one’s personal feelings about the universal lockdown strategy, it’s the path we’re on. Let’s hang tough.
I’m pretty confident in a year we will be talking about defusing capital gains tax and filling our ISAs, just so long as the economy isn’t utterly derailed.
Happy quarantine!
From Monevator
What has changed and what has not – Monevator
From the archive-ator: How talking about money is like French kissing – Monevator
News
Note: Some links are Google search results – in PC/desktop view you can click to read the piece without being a paid subscriber. Try privacy/incognito mode to avoid cookies. Consider subscribing if you read them a lot!2
Economists warn of ‘unprecedented’ recession as PMI hits record low [Search result] – FT
950,000 apply for universal credit in first two weeks of UK lockdown – BBC
UK banks banned from requesting personal guarantees for loans – Guardian
One in 15 people in London may already be infected with the coronavirus [Search result] – FT
Loan and credit card payments to be frozen for three months in UK – Guardian
Coronavirus crisis: your financial rights [Search result] – FT
Global lay-offs surge as 6.6m Americans file jobless claims – FT
Products and services
Six things you need to know if you’re applying for Universal Credit – ThisIsMoney
Robo-adviser results: Nutmeg and Wealthify vs Vanguard year 2 – Much More With Less
Surge in investment account openings on UK platforms [Search results] – FT
Beware of Google ads for ‘bonds’ touting mouth-watering returns – ThisIsMoney
Victorian gothic homes [Gallery] – Guardian
Comment and opinion
When dollar-cost averaging matters the most – A Wealth of Common Sense
The majority of Vanguard investors are holding steady during the crisis [Data] – Vanguard
Recovering from the coma – Investing Caffeine
Was that the bottom? – Of Dollars and Data
Barry Ritholtz: Maybe the coronavirus didn’t end the bull market? – Yahoo
This too shall pass – Humble Dollar
Rebalancing Vs taxes Vs expenses Vs life – Retirement Investing Today
Simon Lambert: Why are the airlines making it so difficult to get coronavirus refunds? – ThisIsMoney
Financial Independence and the virus mini special
They all retired before they hit 40. And then this happened – New York Times
The implausible millennial movement to save, invest, and quit the workplace – Vox
Naughty corner: Active antics
Dabbling with discounts – IT Investor
Which way now? [PDF] – Howard Marks
Terry Smith: my scepticism of value stocks was proven correct in market sell-off – Money Observer
Developing a buying policy for the bear market – Simple Living in Somerset
The limits to lessons from past bear markets – Validea
COVID-19 corner
Just how deadly is the virus, really? – BBC
Why death and fatality rates differ – BBC
Test and trace with Apple and Google – TechCrunch
The math behind social distancing – Visual Capitalist
With this virus, a majority of ventilated patients are not coming off the machines / are dying – NPR
How NHS Nightingale was built in just nine days – BBC
The cost of compassion: Every life saved sees the US foregoing $1m in economic activity – Mr Money Mustache
Tim Harford: How do we value a statistical life? – FT
The real reason epidemiologists and economists keep arguing – Bloomberg
Why it’s so freaking hard to make a good COVID-19 model… – FiveThirtyEight
…although with that said… in praise of models – The Atlantic
We may be underestimating the COVID-19 death toll – Bloomberg
Will the economy ever get back to normal? – The Reformed Broker
Submariners likely unaware of global pandemic – Associated Press
Kindle book bargains
Remote: Office Not Required by David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried – £0.99 on Kindle
Tin Can Cook: 75 Simple Store-cupboard Recipes by Jack Monro – £0.99 on Kindle
Side Hustle: Build a Side Business and Make Extra Money by Chris Guillebeau – £0.99 on Kindle
Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping our Future by Ashlee Vance – £1.99 on Kindle
Off our beat
Why time has slowed – Morgan Housel
Will the coronavirus kill AirBnB? – NY Mag
Live for today, plan for a better business tomorrow – Michael Katz
The Zoom privacy backlash is only just getting started – WIRED
And finally…
“Without us, Earth will abide and endure; without her, however, we could not even be.”
– Alan Weisman, The World Without Us
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- This future is unevenly distributed among different companies. Also you need to factor in some disruption impact for everyone. And if we get into a 3-6 month long lockdown like today’s and with it a depression, all bets are off. My belief is that politicians (and the public) will demand the economy is switched back on before that happens, rightly or wrongly from a medical point of view. [↩]
- Note some articles can only be accessed through the search results if you’re using PC/desktop view (from mobile/tablet view they bring up the firewall/subscription page). To circumvent, switch your mobile browser to use the desktop view. On Chrome for Android: press the menu button followed by “Request Desktop Site”. [↩]
