The coronavirus threat

Govt should prepare for the fallout

In 2003, the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which killed hundreds in East Asia, had a noticeable but eventually manageable effect on the global economy. The People’s Republic of China, where SARS emerged, suffered some growth costs — but the economy was so super-charged at that point in its development that it soon shrugged off the effects and continued to set world-beating records. Much is different today, as another coronavirus has emerged from the Chinese city of Wuhan. Mainland China is far more integrated into global supply chains than it was in 2003, when it accounted for less