What Happens if the Economy Stops?
2020 has been an action-packed year. The prospect of World War III now seems like a non-event because the coronavirus has triggered global panic, bringing the Chinese economy to a grinding halt. With the extent of long-term damage still relatively unknown, it is estimated to take months for a full recovery and normalization of daily operations.
In other nations, precautions have been taken to stunt the spread of the virus, while mainstream media and unreliable data released by governments around the globe don’t help the overall situation.
While the COVID-19 virus is very real, the true danger could come from mass panic, looting, and last-minute scrambling for supplies and resources. Is this what preppers have been waiting for?
Schools, transportation hubs, and businesses could potentially face extensive disruption if they aren’t already. With the stock market’s unsustainable bull market now showing how fragile it truly is with no solid fundamentals underlying the economy, an economic shutdown could render many 1st-world nations crippled, devalued, and without the essentials needed to keep the populations sustained.
Source: Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases Dashboard
The informative dashboard above seems to gain new red dots each day, but the data is what remains questionable because damage control and maintaining total control are the primary objectives of every government now.
Below is another map showing the location of cases. While numbers are slightly different, there could be more cases that have not yet been disclosed.
Source: Novel Coronavirus Case Map, Channel News Asia
IF the data on worldometers.info is accurate, based on the logarithmic scale below it looks like the trend of new cases and deaths related to COVID-19 appear to be stabilizing. While the chart looks promising, this could be the result of low-quality and inaccurate data.
Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
Chinese Authorities Redefining What is Considered “Infected” to Stunt “Official” Numbers? Not Dead, Not Infected?
Another alarming variable to add is what’s defined as an official COVID-19 case by authorities who could distort what classifies as an infection to fit their own narrative. This could be from a lack of thorough investigation on corpses. For example, an elderly person with previous health difficulties who catches COVID-19 and dies could be marked down as a death caused by other health issues, with COVID-19 disregarded as a cause.
ALTERNATIVELY, infections could only be counted once someone actually dies. The point I’m making is that the numbers shown to the world are extremely easy to manipulate and distort.
This means an unknown number of cases could be slipping under the radar, resulting in “official” numbers being much lower or much higher than the true number (this is just a theory of mine, but it’s worth keeping in mind when looking at numbers given by mainstream media and government-sponsored medical corporations).
Despite both cryptocurrencies and gold starting the year with a raging bull market, the vicious drop in the stock market seems to be applying some downward pressure on other assets. The coronavirus could indirectly expose the broken and manipulated fundamentals of the biggest indices, with losses not seen since the 2008 crash itself.
The stock market caused turbulence for investors 18 months ago as well. In the time since that drop, the bubble unnaturally grew to further levels! The market’s response to the coronavirus disruptions has been delayed, rather than experiencing a knee-jerk reaction, and let’s not forget the market being oblivious to Iran’s WW3 fears!
The economy doesn’t run on sound math, economics, and logic. Could a frozen economy and the coronavirus pandemic be the official scapegoat for reality to return to the global economy, or is it just another dip before the bubble is blown even bigger?
This post is for educational purposes. All information used is referenced accordingly. This is not investment advice; please always do thorough research and only invest what you are willing to lose, especially in times of uncertainty.