Alberto tells the IMF to get lost

Alberto Fernandez, the Peronist President of Argentina, is phoning to Giorgieva of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) that Argentina will not repay the loan received last year. IMF's former Chief Lagarde loaned Argentina half of IMF's capital to help Macri win the elections (he lost). It's not small change, we are talking about a hundred billion dollars. Alberto also told her that no pandemic will affect Argentina. I can't say this was unexpected.

People is breaking down

Hungarians debating the pandemic.

Blogger Greg Cochran criticizes John Iannidis paper on the pandemic, suspecting he is psychotic. I read the offending paper and what I found was a simple reading comprehension issue, which may happen even in Stanford U. I visited Hungarian sites to see how they manage, and found them busy blaming each other for the disease (pic). Hope to keep my sanity in the coming days.

Preparing for Lockdown

The radio announced that the Army will be assisting the police to enforce the stay-in-home quarantine. The Secret Service is already monitoring the movements of individuals suspected of being infected. Israel has closed hermetically its borders. Since factories and business have been ordered to close, half a million persons have lost their jobs and are drawing social security. Unemployment jumped to 16%. The Bank of Israel has started to spend its foreign currency reserves. Israel suspended the patents of several antiviral drugs and will start to use generic copies. We want to avoid what is going on in Lombardy, and following the successful Wuhan model. BTW, in Wuhan there is no more coronavirus. All those Chinese and foreigners who made desperate efforts to be rescued from Wuhan and move to supposedly safe diseasefree countries like Italy, France, Canada, USA - made a mistake. The safest place was and is Wuhan. I have much work pending, but cannot focus on my projects and have barely worked all the week. Very bad. 

The Chief Rabbi Allows the Use of Phones during the Sabbat

Rabbi Yosef also ruled that anyone who has been tested for coronavirus and is awaiting the results should leave his cell phone switched on during Shabbat, and should answer it with a shinui [in a different manner from during the rest of the week] in order to be updated on his status, in case he needs to go into quarantine. 

The logic of his ruling is clear, but once we start giving allowances to special cases, what remains? Anyway, he is not my rabbi. I am a Hungarian Jew. 

Israel: A Day with No New Cases

The short wave radio, a gift of the Bank for taking a loan, is speaking all the time about the political impasse in Israel, no music or news about the corona. According the WHO situation report, yesterday there were no new cases in Israel, but that is no news. Looks like Netaniyahu will be ruling four years more. My worry is the stock exchange, from a 20% profit I am now 20% BELOW the purchasing price of the portfolio. I cannot think clearly and focus, so am doing nothing. 

Israel: Quarantine and Without Government

The Ministry of Health has ordered total closure of the population, no one in the streets, shops closed, university and ministries working through the internet. This morning I had my trial lecture, it takes much more time than a frontal exposition, but at least we are paid. My daughter is on half salary and his husband was not sent home on the condition he works for three, that is, does the jobs of two others who were sacked. For me, this coronavirus situation means no change because I use to work from home office. And I have many projects going. The Clients are calling to alert me that the cheques are NOT in the post.

On the top of this emergency, the head of the Blue and White party is trying to form a coalition, but three of his party have abandoned him for trying to ally to the extremist Arab party Balad, and Netaniyahu et al. are not talking to him. The Chairman of the Parliament Yuly Edelstein (pic) has dissolved the committees and the bureaucracy is working without political direction or supervision. Edelstein is a Russian half-Jew and a fanatic right wing Zionist. The police is enforcing the quarantine and the Secret Service was ordered to follow suspected infected persons. Privacy laws have been suspended.

As always, some people are profiting in the chaos. The Bourse has crashed but my supermarket client is prospering. My son in law works in something related to foreign trade logistics: since many airlines are not flying, prices are higher. But this situation is not sustainable, the Bank of Israel is selling reserves.

China does Public Relations

China is pulling out a PR victory from the mouth of the Wuhan defeat. The narrative a month ago was that the Government repressive inaction let the epidemic to develop in Wuhan, killing thousands. Now China presents itself the only place where decisive government actions defeated the virus, helping sick Italy, an example to the world. I tend to agree with the Chinese narrative, with the provision that no one really knows what is happening.