24
OUT OF THE BUBBLE
By Ben Pryor
A slightly unique situation in which to find myself, namely recently arrived in Val d’Isere, recently returned from Richard’s coffee establishment and aiming for as much sleep as possible to avoid wasting a perfectly good powder day, as rare an opportunity for a punter as it gets. Suffice to say whatever perception you have of Covid-19 aka the coronavirus aka the flu by another name, the hysteria has now exceeded it as global stock markets implode, most of Northern Italy is locked down and the contest for the biggest overreaction begins. The contagion and
unpleasantness elements make for unfun reading but the fatality rate thankfully remains low. Perhaps the spread of this disease was unavoidable given how interconnected the globe is, but given it’s now threatening 6 Nations games it’s probably time to address it properly. The UK has set out its Brexit demands for a future trade deal, to be discussed starting next week. British officials have stated their preference for a Canada-style deal. The EU originally stated this was one of the few options which would satisfy British and EU demands but are now demanding dynamic alignment and various other codicils which have been seen to put no deal back on the table, unhelpfully hitting exchange rates and thereby raising the drinks prices for your humble scribe. Bernie Sanders won the Nevada caucus.
