As governments everywhere restrict movement and business, and consumers are afraid to spend money, recovery from the abrupt halt may take years. The secretary general of the United Nations, António Guterres, on Wednesday called the outbreak the greatest test the world had seen since World War II. “This is already shaping up as the deepest dive on record for the global economy for over 100 years,” said one Harvard economist, adding that if it lasted long, it would be “the mother of all financial crises.”Case study: France is throwing financial lifelines to struggling businesses, and testing whether preventing mass joblessness can hasten economic recovery. Another angle: In China, starting up the economy again has already proved harder than shutting it down.

Source: International New York Times April 02, 2020 04:30 UTC