Can we stop the clock?

To minimise economic damage during the lockdown, focus on cash flows, promise of growth

“I have seen power blackouts as enemy bombers flew overhead, have stood in long queues to collect kerosene, and have lived through food shortages, but have never experienced anything like this before,” said my mother a few days back. Unfortunately, from the perspective of economic forecasting and the financial markets, neither have most —if not all — of the current crop of observers, including this author. Prior global viral pandemics were either too localised (SARS in 2003), or were too far back to have analytical value even if they triggered lockdowns: The 1968 Hong Kong flu was half a century