The high-frequency economic data that inform investment and policy decisions are too dated to be of much significance now. The muted response to the robust US employment data illustrates this point. Events are moving quickly. The containment of the coronavirus has failed, and it is now reported in more than 90 countries. The precise economic impact may be unknown, as former Treasury Secretary Summers noted in a recent op-ed piece in the Washington Post that argued against the Fed cutting rates, but policymakers and investors do not need such precision. The direction of the shock is clear. The magnitude is less known, ... (full story)