So are we supposed to get all crazy scared about the Swine Flu now? I’m sure some people I work with will think it’s the next end times. I don’t mean to minimize the tragedy of 103 people in Mexico dying from Swine Flu, but the media is feeding the panic and now the government is onboard.
The federal government has declared what DHS Secretary Napolitano urges Americans to view as a “declaration of emergency preparedness”, which allows the government to move doses of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu to parts of the country with potential swine flu outbreaks, release monies and take other preparedness steps.
So, maybe it’s bad. On the other hand, I remember the panic over the bird flu, and how that came to naught. I’m sure it sounds cyncial for me to say that I think our government tries to scare us to distract us, but I’ll take the bad karma.
And certainly, the news seems to be scaring the markets.
IN OTHER NEWS
There is good news on the U.S. dollar. So why is it going down?
And the way we use computers may be about to change … again. A new class of cheaper, smaller netbook computers that don’t use Intel chips or run Windows are elbowing their way into the market.
Update on gold: By Reuters’ calculation, China’s holding of gold would be worth around US$30.9-billion at current prices. That accounts for only about 1.6% of China’s total foreign exchange holdings and is little more than one-tenth of the value of the U.S. gold reserve, the world’s biggest. It also means gold has slipped as a share of China’s total reserves from about 2%, based on end-2003 prices.”
Summers Says U.S. Economy to Decline ‘For Some Time’
Summers said the Obama administration is “on a path toward containment and toward building a path toward expansion,” he said, adding that “even sharp plans take time” to work, perhaps six months or more.
The Strange Case of Timothy F. Geithner
Today, Mr. Geithner ….finds himself a locus of discontent… range of critics — lawmakers, economists and even former Federal Reserve colleagues — say that the bailout Mr. Geithner has played such a central role in fashioning is overly generous to the financial industry at taxpayer expense.
An examination of Mr. Geithner’s five years as president of the New York Fed, an era of unbridled and ultimately disastrous risk taking by the financial industry, shows that he forged unusually close relationships with executives of Wall Street’s giant financial institutions….
His actions, as a regulator and later a bailout king, often aligned with the industry’s interests and desires, according to interviews with financiers, regulators and analysts and a review of Federal Reserve records.
Copper Falls in London on Concern Swine Flu Will Delay Economic Recovery
Copper fell in London on concern a deadly outbreak of swine flu that has spread from Mexico to the U.S. and Canada may hurt efforts to revive the world economy.
Supertanker Rates Signal 100% Rise as Fleets Shrink on Single-Hull Losses
The worst market for supertankers since the 1973 Arab oil embargo is setting the stage for prices to double by the fourth quarter as ship owners scrap aging vessels and delay orders for new ones.
China Set to Overtake U.S. as Biggest Wind-Power Growth Market This Year
China is poised to become the biggest growth market for wind-power generating capacity this year as the recession and credit crisis crimp expansion in the U.S., the head of the Global Wind Energy Council said.
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There’s quite a difference between this and bird flu. Total ever there have been 421 cases of avian flu (according to the WHO and that’s over the course of 6 years). There’s well over 1,000 cases worldwide of swine flue in a period of 2 weeks. There are obviously magnitudes of difference. If anything, the media has talked down swine flu. Some CNBC anchor even said it would be over in a matter of days. He couldn’t have been more wrong.
We’ll see how it goes. I hope it’s overblown, but I’m always open to the possibility that I’m wrong. And don’t feel you have to write here as “anonymous.” We’re all friends here (or try to be).