That's Interesting
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Coronavirus could force China to rein in Belt and Road ambitions
06th May, 2020Domestic economic challenges due to COVID-19 are likely to force China to dial back on big-ticket infrastructure projects. But Beijing will not shy away from bankrolling virus-hit countries to score geopolitical gains.
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FRBSF – Longer-Run Economic Consequences of Pandemics
19th April, 2020How do major pandemics affect economic activity in the medium to longer term? Is it consistent with what economic theory prescribes? Since these are rare events, historical evidence over many centuries is required.
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FRBSL – Corporate Bond Spreads and the Pandemic
19th April, 2020The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruption in economic activity across the globe. What has been the effects of the ongoing pandemic and some of the policy responses on the corporate bond market?
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FRBSL – How the Impact of Social Distancing Ripples through the Economy
08th April, 2020While COVID-19 is having a devastating impact on the U.S. economy, its impact across industries is likely to be heterogeneous. High contact-intensive industries—ones that rely more on face-to-face interactions—are likely be more negatively affected.
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Music Is Truly a Universal Language: New Research Shows That Music Worldwide Has Important Commonalities
08th April, 2020Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s description of music as a universal language has become a well-worn cliché, usually uttered in a sentimental and not particularly serious way. In the sciences, the “universal language” hypothesis in music has been taken far more seriously.
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Isaac Newton Conceived of His Most Groundbreaking Ideas During the Great Plague of 1665
08th April, 2020Health experts worldwide say home is the best place to be right now to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Many lifesaving discoveries have been made in the wake of epidemics, such as Shakespeare, who wrote some of his best works during outbreaks of plague in London. But the best role model of productivity in a time of quarantine, is perhaps Isaac Newton. During the years 1665-67, the time of the Great Plague of London, Newton’s “genius was unleashed,” writes biographer Philip Steele. “The precious material that resulted was a new understanding of the world.”
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