TWO PANDEMIC NOVELS FOR CATHARSIS AND RELIEF
Book Reviews: The End of October by Lawrence Wright, published April 28, 2020, by Knopf (400 pages) ; The Cover Up by Oscar Sparrow, published September 19, 2019, by Gallo Romano Media (107 pages, free on coronavirus lockdown) These pandemic
Coronavirus: Moving Out of Lockdown
Updated 19 April 2020. Is there light at the end of the tunnel? It would appear so. As the curve of new coronavirus cases starts flattening here and there, talk of moving out of lockdown has become pervasive across the
Trump’s War on the World Health Organization
Updated 20 April 2020. Trump's war on the World Health Organization has just taken a new twist. News has emerged that the Trump administration received full information in real-time from Americans working at WHO, undercutting Trump's accusations that the WHO
Coronavirus Books for Children
According to Unesco (as of 11 April), school closures are affecting 91% of the world’s student population - that’s over 1.5 billion children whose learning has been disrupted. They are at home and wondering what happens next. As the coronavirus
COVID-19: Link with Air Pollution? Italy’s and China’s Experience
Update 21 April 2020. A new study further confirms the link between the mortality rate of COVID-19 and air pollution. Carried out by Yaron Ogen, a scientist from the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in Germany, it was just published in the journal
Coronavirus and the Rise of China
The new coronavirus started in China last year and after three months of suffering, the Chinese have managed to finally bring it under control. Now China is again looking outside and turning into a leader in the global response to
Hello, Digital World: Life (not Love) at the Time of Covid-19
Can digital life save us from the fear and anxieties of COVID-19, especially when we are put in quarantine, like the Chinese were, like the Italians are today? The digital economy will undoubtedly get a boost from COVID-19 - just
Coronavirus Outbreak: The Real Political Risks
Update (9 March 2020): Ten days after this article was published, Italy has quarantined 16 million people in Northern Italy this Sunday and the coronavirus numbers of infected people have skyrocketed over 7300 and 366 deaths. The quarantine is expected to
Global Banks in Support of Climate Disaster
The evidence is in: Global banks don’t fight climate change, they support climate disaster. Despite the warnings coming from scientists on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), they continue to invest in the fossil fuels industry. Yet warnings have
Is Brexit a Defeat for Europe?
The judgment is out, Brexit is a defeat for Europe and the European project. And for America too. It will weaken the European Union on the international scene and slow down integration. That, at least, is the judgment you find
Climate Emergency: Eight Stories That Could Make or Break the 2020 Decade
We are now in a climate emergency and 2020 will be a critical year in the fight for the survival of the planet. The battleground is triple: climate change, biodiversity, and the ocean. What happens in one affects the other
The 2010s: Billionaires’ Decade – What Next?
The 2010s are coming to a close. Reviewing the decade, what can we say about the future? A tech person will look at technological progress (stunning). A sociologist will look at cultural diversity (explosive). My take (disclosure: I’m an economist)