A weekly commentary on current events. Follow populyst to receive notification.
This week: Equity market; Protests and election; Coronavirus – USA.
Author: Sami J. Karam
Wednesday Briefs – 27 May 2020
A weekly commentary on current events. Follow populyst to receive notification.
This week: The shrinking pandemic; Second wave – Virus mutation; Is Twitter a utility?
Wednesday Briefs – 20 May 2020
A weekly commentary on current events. Follow populyst to receive notification.
This week: Milestones in the re-opening; Russia, Brazil; United States deaths; Bearish billionaires.
Wednesday Briefs – 13 May 2020
A weekly commentary on current events. Follow populyst to receive notification.
This week: High growth companies; Coronavirus – United States outside New York; Coronavirus – BRIC countries.
Wednesday Briefs – 6 May 2020
A weekly commentary on current events. Follow populyst to receive notification.
This week: Testing results; The Re-Opening; Second wave.
Camus Against the Virus
Decency is of little value without a foundation of honesty.
Albert Camus’ masterful novel La Peste (The Plague) is enjoying a resurgence in the current pandemic. Published in 1947 in the immediate aftermath of WW2, it was not, or not only, about a biological plague but also about the plague of Nazism or other ideological cancers and their equally devastating effect on humanity.
Among the many different citations recently lifted from the book, this particular one has appeared in several articles and countless social media posts:
“It may seem a ridiculous idea, but the only way to fight the plague is with decency.”
Coming from Camus, this sentence looked unusual because there is no direct literal word in French for decency as we mean it in English. The closest are décence and pudeur but these words convey different meanings.
In the original French text, Camus had written: Read more
Wednesday Briefs – 29 April 2020
A weekly commentary on current events. Follow populyst to receive notification.
This week: An improbable summer; Coronavirus – United States ex-New York; Decency vs. honesty.
Wednesday Briefs – 22 April 2020
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This week: Negative oil, Commodity trading; Coronavirus – Sweden; Coronavirus – New York.
Wednesday Briefs – 15 April 2020
A weekly commentary on current events. Follow populyst to receive notification.
This week: Coronavirus – USA; Coronavirus seasonality; Future winners and losers.
On the Seasonality of the Virus
What are the odds that the coronavirus will recede on its own during the spring because of warmer temperatures or a higher ultraviolet (UV) index? This has been a question from the beginning.
There has been some research in support of the idea that the warmer season would force the virus to retreat. And there has been other research that concluded that the virus would retreat but not disappear, that it would survive in the southern hemisphere and that it could then stage a comeback in the northern hemisphere in the fall when cooler temperatures return.
Single Variables
Looking at the United States state by state, we find little correlation between the number of deaths per capita and the UV index. For example, Wisconsin with a UV index of 4 in March has so far suffered 25 deaths per million inhabitants, but Rhode Island also with a UV index of 4 saw as many as 60 deaths per million. At one extreme, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Connecticut and Massachusetts, all with a March UV index of 4, had over 100 deaths per million. At the other extreme, South Dakota also with a March UV index of 4 had only 7 deaths per million. (All deaths figures are as of 12th April 2020 per Worldometer). Read more
