Hello Quartz readers,
Today we are inspired by reader James JS, who is using his stuck-at-home downtime to install hardwood floors. The two-week project “requires some basic woodworking knowledge,” he writes, “but needs a limited list of equipment and materials. All can be preordered and picked up or delivered. (And of course, beer and good tunes).”
May we all find our “____ + beer + good tunes” activity this week.
✉️ Tell us about yours.
And now, let’s look at some charts.
Isolating the problem
New research from economists at the US Federal Reserve and MIT indicates that the economic price of widespread quarantines and business closures may be lower than the alternative.
The researchers examined US cities during the 1918 flu pandemic. Places hit by the breakout suffered economically, but cities with “early and extensive” containment efforts saved lives, while their economies, measured in terms of manufacturing and bank lending, performed better when the disease abated.
During the 1918 pandemic, speed mattered. Cracking down on the virus’s spread 10 days earlier boosted manufacturing employment by about 5% afterwards, according to the researchers. Keeping in place containment measures—known as non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs)—for an extra 50 days increased that sector’s employment some 6.5% in the period that followed. “If anything,” the economists wrote, “cities with longer NPIs grow faster in the medium term.”
Worth the squeeze
Investments of almost all stripes have plunged as the global economy slips toward a coronavirus-led recession. But a handful of agricultural commodities are in high demand. The price of a dozen large white eggs has jumped to about $2.93, up from around $0.84 at the beginning of the year, according to FactSet, citing USDA data. Futures for frozen concentrated orange juice, a famously speculative commodity derivative, have also soared.
In other words, panic-buying at grocery stores has made eggs and orange juice the best performing assets this year.
It’s the climb
A freefall in global stock markets appears to have been arrested, for now, as governments assemble immense aid packages to support their economies. Officials are planning to spend and lend more than $5 trillion to help workers and preserve industries that have gone into hibernation.
Claims department
Joblessness has spiked as businesses such as restaurants and hotels shutter, with weekly unemployment claims setting a record in the US. What makes the coronavirus-led recession different from those that came before it is the speed of the disruption. More than 10 times as many unemployment claims were filed in the US during the 2008 downturn, but this time it’s happening fast.
Please don’t stop the music
Musicians, now unable to tour, are flocking to livestream platform Twitch at an unprecedented rate, according to data provided to Quartz by livestreaming services firm StreamElements. On March 8, viewers watched over 92,000 hours of content in the music and performing arts category. By March 22, that number had skyrocketed to over 574,000 hours.
Guided navigation
In this week’s field guide for Quartz members, we dive into how coronavirus is upending industries. It’s journalism we’re proud of, at a time when analytical thinking—and a dash of calm—is more important than ever.
If you’d like to support our work, consider becoming a Quartz member. We did have to nix the secret handshake (circumstances, you understand), but we’re looking into other unique member perks, such as a haiku written in your honor, or a portrait of your likeness in finger-paint by a Quartz pet. In the meantime, you’ll get unlimited access to QZ.com, plus member-exclusive stories and video series.
Here’s some of what we learned this week:
- Fossil fuels face two possible scenarios. “The market has clearly been saying oil and gas…as a profit-making venture, it’s yesterday’s story,” says Clark Williams-Derry, an energy analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. “What I think we’re doing now is we’re writing the next story.”
- The tech industry will recover faster than we do. “China’s slowly returning to normal life,” says Marina Koytcheva, vice president of forecasting at CCS Insights. “We hear from a number of companies that demand is improving. And of course, the supply chain is slowly coming back into place.”
- It’s time to re-regulate the airlines. “You can’t have a functioning economy without an airline industry right now,” says Tim Wu, a law professor at Columbia University. “We’ve experimented with just pretending they’re normal businesses, but in some ways they really aren’t.”
We promised babka
Quartz news editor Susan Howson made her first chocolate babka this weekend, and we couldn’t be more impressed. “I am so proud of it,” she says. “I keep yelling ‘HOW GOOD IS THAT BABKA, GUYS’ in my house.”
Chocolate babka is a hobby to hang onto, and reporter Youyou Zhou is working on a project about aspects of quarantine worth preserving. Tell us: ✉️ What about lockdown life do you enjoy?
Essential reading
- The latest 🌏 figures: 823,479 confirmed cases; 174,019 classified as “recovered.”
- Bargain-hunting: Brokerage app sign-ups are soaring.
- Staying organized: Mobs are thriving in Italy.
- New uniform: Walmart is selling more tops than bottoms.
- It’s true: Every expert opinion about masks is right.
Oops: In an email last week, we referred to a 14-day lockdown period in India. The lockdown will actually last 21 days. Thank you to Antara S. for flagging this error. That’s the last time we proofread while installing hardwood floors.
Our best wishes for a healthy day. Get in touch with us at needtoknow@qz.com, and live your best Quartz life by downloading our app and becoming a member. Today’s newsletter was brought to you by John Detrixhe, Amrita Khalid, Manavi Kapur, and Kira Bindrim. Today’s babka was brought to you by Susan Howson.