Admitting you're clueless about Covid-19 is healthy
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As with most government policies, the problem was well on its way to being solved and then the government crashes in with a sweeping solution which makes the problem worse or creates an alternative problem. An economic crisis is added to the health crisis. The trouble for those nations which managed to pull off a lockdown is… well just look at what's happening in those nations. Second waves and secondary outbreaks are causing serious problems for their economies now. If you avoided Covid-19, it's still waiting for you. How long will those who didn't get Covid-19 live in fear? I won't be returning to the office for long after the lockdown ends. What about the mantra about testing? It was the most important part of the response, right? Well, I've been sceptical of this from the beginning. Now a series of articles have explained how it all went wrong. It turns out that some people get multiple tests, so the total number of tests nowhere near equals the total number of people tested. The rate of false positives and negatives is very high on a lot of testing, releasing Covid-19 sufferers into society or putting people in lockdown unnecessarily. Seriously deficient testing devices have turned up too. All sorts of figures from testing which are getting compared between nations are not recorded in the same way. This makes a mess of the analysis. The analysis that drives decision-making in governments. The lack of comparability is obvious when you look at the headlines. Consider this from Bloomberg's homepage recently: But enough pointing of fingers and throwing bricks. Let's look to the future. With all eyes now on a vaccine, the world is in for a surprise there too. Because Covid-19 has such a low death rate, the vaccine for it would have to be incredibly safe with minimal risks. And proving that level of safety will take a long time. For a few years now, mutant strains of polio vaccines have caused more cases than polio itself. Not ideal… I'm worried enough about the vaccines my daughter will get tomorrow, let alone new Covid-19 ones. At this point, we don't even know if Covid-19 is airborne or not! The World Health Organisation is still deciding which evidence to believe. Why am I wildly shooting holes in what the world claims to know about Covid-19? If you believe that financial markets reflect Covid-19's spread, then you shouldn't believe this crisis is over yet. We know surprisingly little and can claim to know less than ever now that our assumptions are falling apart. Covid-19 isn't finished with the stockmarket, yet. That's why I think you should escape with some of your money. But where? Well, don't leave it in the banking system. I explain why here. And I've collated six opportunities outside the financial system for you to buy into instead here. Before you go consider this. Breitbart is reporting on rumours and videos from China that hopeless cases were body-bagged and incinerated alive to free up hospital beds. So, if you're counting your losses in pounds, consider yourself lucky… Nick Hubble Editor, Southbank Investment Research |
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