What Actually Mattered This Week: Record Unemployment and Democratic Backsliding

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WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERED THIS WEEK

My thoughts on some of this week’s biggest news stories:

Record 6.6 million Americans sought unemployment benefits last week

6.6 million. Never in my life did I think I’d see a number like that in the US.

The US needs to do more testing and institute a strong nationwide lockdown so we can reopen parts of the economy as quickly and effectively as possible. Meanwhile, the federal government should provide emergency relief to every part of the economy – first and foremost to displaced workers – as well as provide stimulus once the economy restarts.

Coronavirus: Greatest test since World War Two, says UN chief

After 9/11, the US led a global coalition responding to the attacks.

After 2008, the US led a global coalition responding to the economic crisis.

In 2020 (by far the biggest crisis of the three), there’s no US international leadership and no coordinated global response.

This is our first G-Zero crisis. The US is unwilling to provide global leadership, and there’s no country or set of countries capable of replacing it.

It’s truly tragic this crisis is also the greatest scale of any since WWII.

New law gives sweeping powers to Hungary's Orban, alarming rights activists

Hungary sliding further into authoritarianism.

It’s hard to see how Hungary under Orban belongs in the EU.

Bolsonaro, isolated and defiant, dismisses coronavirus threat to Brazil

Bolsonaro’s going to get people killed. It’s a level of irresponsibility I’ve never seen from a democratically elected leader.

He makes Trump look like Churchill. It’s extraordinary.

TRUTHS, DAMNED TRUTHS, AND STATISTICS

There are now an estimated 3.5 billion people worldwide under some sort of coronavirus lockdown.

Nearly half the world’s population.

-The Guardian

THE GZERO WORLD WE’RE JUST LIVING IN

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GRAPHIC TRUTH

YOUR GZERO WORLD 

While the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating economic impact globally, few industries have been as hard hit as restaurants and hospitality. In the U.S. alone, losses north of $225 billion are projected over the next three months. This week, we’re focusing on what it means for businesses and employees alike. I interviewed famed restaurateur Danny Meyer, the CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group and founder of Shake Shack. Meyer discusses the toll coronavirus has taken on his own business, his decision to let go 80% of his workforce (2,000 employees) and the dimming prospects of survival for many restaurants in America, including some of his own. 

WORLD IN 60 SECONDS

What's the coronavirus update? And when will a state of normalcy return?

Will powers enacted fighting this war on coronavirus remain when it's over?

If there is a second wave of infection in China, what political responses or geopolitical pressures might we expect?

Find out in this week's World in 60 Seconds!

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BECAUSE THE INTERNET

Plausible.

DEEP THOUGHTS

"Worry is like a rocking chair: It gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere.” – Erma Bombeck

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Ian Bremmer is president of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media and foreign affairs columnist at TIME. He currently teaches at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and previously was a professor at New York University. You can follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.