This is Toby Sumpter with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Tuesday, March 10, 2020

https://www.wsj.com/articles/crude-prices-collapse-after-saudi-pledge-to-boost-output-11583748166?ns=prod/accounts-wsj

David Hodari at the Wall Street Journal reports: Oil prices recorded their biggest one-day crash since the first Gulf War in 1991 on Monday. 

Saudi Arabian state oil giant Aramco’s move over the weekend to cut most of its official selling prices triggered the oil-price crash, with a barrel of Brent crude, the global gauge of prices, closing down 24% at $34.36. Saudi officials also said the kingdom is planing to boost crude output.

An “oil price war unequivocally started this weekend” said Damien Courvalin, head of energy research at Goldman Sachs, adding that the price cuts were Saudi Arabia’s biggest according to some measures in at least 20 years.

The tumble puts oil at its lowest level in four years and 50% below a peak hit Jan. 6. U.S. crude futures fell 25% to $31.13 a barrel, also posting their worst day since 1991 and ending the day at a four-year low.

There was already growing concern that supply of oil could be outpacing demand, and with demand already down 2.5 million barrels a day in the first quarter of 2020. China accounted for 1.8 million barrels of that drop. Another contributor to the lessoning demand could be the warmest winter on record in the Northern Hemisphere. But the immediate culprit, or at least what seems to be adding additional uncertainty and pressure is Covid-19, the coronavirus that began in Wuhan province China. Mass quarantines beginning in China seem to have played a major role in slashing crude oil demand. 

Italy is the latest nation to have taken extreme measures to contain the spread of the virus. Some 17 million are on lockdown, including the cities of Milan and Venice. The increased enforcement of the regionwide quarantine that was instituted Sunday comes as total known infections in Italy reached 9,172, surpassing the number of cases in South Korea to become the most-affected country after China. The death rate in Italy, where 463 people have died while infected with the virus, is higher than in any other country, sitting currently at 5%. But even that number is hard to track, given the fact that not all infections are known or documented. Italian prisons cancelled visiting hours causing inmates to riot in a 27 prisons on Sunday and Monday. 

But remember everybody, COVID-19 is a bad flu. This means that it does present an additional threat to the elderly and those with other weakened immune systems or respiratory issues, but on the whole, healthy people who contract COVID-19 will be laid out for a few days and then recover. Surely, that’s always a hardship and inconvenience but nothing to panic about, nothing to stockpile supplies for our or steal face masks over. The real danger is what self-serving panic can do. It really can create cycles of more panic, which in turn does great harm and damage to others around you. But this kind of panic thrives in a culture that is deeply afraid of death. Christians love life and we are duty bound to protect it, but we are not afraid of death or dying. For us to live is Christ and to die is gain. Either we win or we win. But I don’t think we quite realize just how practical that conviction is. But maybe God has given us the coronavirus to remind Christians of this fact. We need not live like the pagans, slaves to fear of death. We have met Jesus, and He is the resurrection and the life.  

And by the way, Fox Phoenix reports that China now has more recovered coronavirus patients than people still infected. 

Wall Street Panic Breaker

https://www.wsj.com/articles/traders-closely-watching-circuit-breakers-thresholds-11583761223

Akane Otani from the Wall Street Journal reports that Stock trading was briefly halted Monday for the first time since 1997 after a tumultuous selloff triggered an automatic curb on trading.

This is Toby Sumpter with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Friday, April 24, 2020

26.5 Million Have Filed for Unemployment in the US 

https://apnews.com/e17fdbbd8a49169e9a5d131d961d472c

Another 4.4 million Americans filed for jobless aid last week, brining the total to over 26 million in the last five weeks since the corona virus panic set in. That’s 1 in 6 American workers. That’s more than the number of people who live in the 10 largest US cities combined. Economists are estimating that the unemployment rate could hit 20% by the end of April.

This is the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. But most economists do not believe this downturn will last near as long as the Great Depression. Discussion centers around whether the rebound will be quick and “V-shaped” or slower and more “U-shaped.”

During the Depression, unemployment stayed high for nearly a decade, with the jobless rate remaining above 14% from 1931 all the way to 1940. But unemployment is considered likely to remain elevated well into next year and probably beyond.

Europe’s economies, too, are headed for severe recessions, with surveys of economic activity released Thursday hitting all-time lows. The downturn is putting at risk up to 59 million jobs — 26% of employment in the European Union — according to McKinsey, the consulting firm. 

Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Forney Says Washington Isolation Order is Unconstitutional

https://www.facebook.com/adamfortneyforsheriff/posts/2754200934627471?__tn__=K-R

Noting that the virus is real and has taken 97 lives in Snohomish County. Forney wrote: “This is a very serious issue and the appropriate precautions need to be taken to protect our most vulnerable populations.” 

Sheriff Forney wrote, “I am worried about the economy and I am worried about Washingtonian’s that need to make a living for their family. As more data floods in week by week and day by day about this pandemic I think it is clear that the “models” have not been entirely accurate. 

As elected leaders I think we should be questioning the Governor when it makes sense to do so. Are pot shops really essential or did he allow them to stay in business because of the government taxes received from them? That seems like a reasonable question. If pot shops are essential, then why aren’t gun shops essential? Our Governor has told us that private building/construction must stop as it is not essential, but government construction is okay to continue. So let me get this right, according to the Governor if you are employed or contracted by the government to build government things you can still make a living for your family in spite of any health risk. If you are a construction worker in the private sector you cannot make a living and support your family because the health risk is too high. This contradiction is not okay and in my opinion is bordering on unethical. 

If this Coronavirus is so lethal and we have shut down our roaring economy to save lives, then it should be all or nothing. The government should not be picking winners or losers when it comes to being able to make an income for your family. If the virus is so lethal it shouldn’t matter whether you are building a school for the government, building a new housing development, restaurant owner, or you happen to be an independent contractor. 

If we are going to allow government contractors and pot shops to continue to make a living for their families, then it is time to open up this freedom for other small business owners who are comfortable operating in the current climate. This is the great thing about freedom. If you are worried about getting sick you have the freedom to choose to stay home. If you need to make a living for your family and are comfortable doing so, you should have the freedom to do so. 

Forney: “I have not carried out any enforcement for the current a stay-at-home order. As this order has continued on for well over a month now and