Economic impact of
coronavirus infection
In this time Article, in light of the
recent World Situation and Economic
Trends, I would like to talk about
“what kind of changes are occurring
in society now” and “what kind of Era
is coming” in the world after the
coronavirus.
First of all, I would like you to
look at the graph below. The bottom
three Red Lines show the overall
economic trends in New York from
February to September of this year.
Typical examples are workplace
attendance, transportation, eating and
drinking, and entertainment facilities.
In each case, sales dropped sharply
in the middle of March, when
coronavirus infection peaked, and
then gradually recovered until
September. This is the so-called
L-Shaped Recovery form.
On the other hand, the Red Line
at the top shows the Economic
Trends of Food and Medicine.
Only Food and Medicine are not so
depressed during peak of corona
infections, and have remained
relatively stable with little decline
until September. This is because
many citizens definitely buy only
food and medicine, with or without
a corona infection, or even while
waiting at home.
(The table above shows the economic
trends only in New York, but it is
thought that the trends are almost
the same too in other states in the
United States.)
Next, the table below is a graph
showing the transition of the Dow
Jones Industrial Average during the
same period as the table above.
As you can see at a glance, the stock
price fell sharply in mid-March,
when the corona infection peaked,
and then rebounded vigorously from
that point, achieving a rapid V-Shaped
Recovery.
In detail, the Dow Jones was at around
$ 29,000 until the end of February.
But when it comes to March, it fell
sharply under the influence of the
corona infection and it plummeted till
below $ 19,000 in mid-March when
the corona infection reached to the
peak. That’s a real $ 10,000 drop.
It is still fresh in our memory that the
Dow Jones fell to $ 1000 and $ 1500
a day during this period.
However, by the beginning of
September, it had surprisingly
recovered to the $ 29,000 level.
The same thing happened with the
Nikkei stock price in Tokyo.
In short, since March, despite the
fact that all industries were able to
make only a gradual recovery, only
the stock prices have achieved such
an amazing V-shape recovery.
This extraordinary rise was
unpredictable for many investment
fund professionals and also for almost
all companies.
What does this mean?
First of all, the reason for the rapid
recovery of stock prices is that the U.S.
government and the Fed, the central
bank of the United States, released
a large amount of money to the market
in response to the spread of the
coronavirus infection from March this
year. That triggered a surge in the Dow
Jones Industrial Average.
The Fed’s financial support measures
were to buy unlimited government bonds,
buy not only large corporations, but even
corporate bonds of low-credit companies,
and started supplying small and
medium-sized enterprises with exceptional
funding. In total, that amount has reached
$ 2.3 trillion.
The Bank of Japan also invested a large
amount of money in the stock market,
doubling the purchase of assets from 6 trillion
yen to 12 trillion yen. And there was an annual
upper limit of 80 trillion yen for government
bonds up until now, but they have changed it
to “unlimited purchases.” In the case of Japan,
the total business scale was about
108 trillion yen.
Due to these factors, stock prices in both
Japan and the United States rose sharply
in a V-shape.
The government’s financial support measures
were unlike the 2008 Lehman shock, because
of the reason of viruses, there were no
particular dissenting opinions nor objections
among parliaments, opposition parties,
companies, and the private sector of every
country including Japan and the United
States. Therefore, it went smoothly.
Because of the corona reason, no one
could argue, and every country’s fiscal
mobilization decision went smoothly.
However, despite such a total fiscal
mobilization, the spread of coronavirus
infection has not stopped, and the economic
situation is still chaotic. However, since the
beginning of September 2020, the US
economy has been recovering a little
due to the decrease in the spread of
coronavirus infection.
What is the current state of the world
since the advent of the coronavirus?
And what kind of era is the present
entering?
I would like to think about this through
“BlackRock” (pictured below), which is
currently the world’s largest asset
management company in the United States.
BlackRock is an investment fund
that manages huge assets of
$ 7 trillion annually and its funding
scale is literally the largest in the
world.
This amount is a huge as which of
three times the amount of $ 2.3
trillion in financial support provided
by the US government this time
for measures against coronavirus.
In addition, Japan’s national budget
(general account total) for 2020 is
about $ 1 trillion, and that is about
seven times as much of that.
However, even that BlackRock could
not predict the sudden fluctuations
in the financial market including the
stock price due to the coronavirus,
and lost $ 1 trillion. The impact of
coronavirus infection this time
that gave on the economy as
a whole, was extremely unusual so
that it had damaged almost all
industries, including food, tourism
and transportation.
This time, many asset management
companies, including BlackRock, made
a loss at the Black circle in the figure
below. That was the time of mid-March
when the coronavirus infection spread
and all economic indicators, including
stock prices and crude oil, reached the
peak of decline.
At that time, many professional investors
and companies sold their assets from the
first half of March, due to the prediction that
the “spread of coronavirus infection will
continue for a long time and the economic
downturn will be severe.” And they went
through the process of converting them
into cash. The loss was generated because
the assets that were of high value were
released below the purchased price.
However, in reality, stock prices start to
rise sharply in a V-Shape from mid-March.
However, if so, you may think, “You should
buy again” at the place of the Red Circle
in above table, immediately after the stock
price starts to rise. However, this place is
extremely difficult to buy. The reason is
that when stock prices rise, they do not
rise in a straight line.
Definitely, it goes up while lowering several
times. At the time of this “several lowering,”
people think, “Because the spread of corona
infections will continue in the future, it will
lower further. Even with some government
mobilization, it will lower.” In other words,
it looks like Fig.2. If the stock price becomes
the form of Fig. 2 and goes down further,
even if they buy at the red circle, the loss will
increase further. Therefore, here is not an
easy place to buy. As a result, the assets
sold by many companies in the first half of
March, remained as loss.
The meaning of “sustainability”
used in the world after the
coronavirus
The standard that BlackRock currently
sets as the most powerful investment
measure when selecting a good investee
company, is the company’s “Sustainability.”
For all investment Funds, not just
BlackRock, this “Sustainability” is currently
the most important factor when choosing
a good company to invest in. Especially
since the spread of corona infection began,
this tendency is becoming stronger.
Therefore, sustainability that means here,
is a term that has been rapidly gaining
attention in the wake of the spread of this
pandemic coronavirus infection.
This sustainability means the “sustainability
in a society where corona infection progress,”
and it has a slightly different meaning from
the “Sustainable Growth” used in traditional
Environmental issues.
For instance, if a retailer could show constant
sales without interruption, it is a sustainable
and good company. However, in the world
after the coronavirus, it is becoming much
more difficult to “show constant sales” and
“show sustainable sales” than in the
pre-coronavirus era.
The reason is, needless to say, no one knows
when a coronavirus infection will occur.
This is a “Risk factor” not found in the
pre-Corona world.
Not only that, it is also difficult to predict the
psychological state of people and citizens
when even a small amount of coronavirus
occurs. For instance, a small spread of the
infection will cause anxiety among the
citizens to spread unexpectedly, and many
citizens may stop buying products.
For instance, no matter how good the
company you are investing in right now,
if the corona infection spreads rapidly
at some point, or if a small amount of
infection spreads people’s anxiety and
the goods will not sell, the sales of the
company will drop at once. In such a state,
neither the investor nor the company
itself that is doing business can feel at
ease.
To put it shortly, it can be said that
“we have entered an Era in which we
cannot feel at ease no matter how much
assets we own.”
It is often said that “(the world after Corona)
is an Era in which the speed of change is
much faster than in the past.”
If changing its expression, it also means
the “Era in which unpredictability is
rapidly increasing everywhere” including
the above various things.
Internal factors of the coronavirus
The factors that coronavirus brings such
“uncertainty” to society are not only the
social factors as mentioned above, but it
is also due to the unique characteristics
and structural factors of the coronavirus
itself as a virus.
That is, coronavirus is unlike conventional
viruses, a “cunning virus” that has the ability
to quickly adapt and respond to human
antibodies and immunity.
For instance, the course of infection of
the coronavirus in the human body,
when coronavirus suppressed by human
immunity or antibodies, they rapidly
adapts to that attack, creating corona’s
own antibodies and defense system, and
responding. They have the power to do so.
This is one of the root factors that make
it difficult to develop a powerful vaccine
among medical institutions and specialists
around the world.
From the above circumstances, I think
that in the future, in order for companies
to achieve “Sustainable corporate
management” in the world after the
coronavirus, it is necessary to have the
Law of Origin (Myō-Hō) in their
background.
The Law of Origin is the law that exists
in all phenomenon worlds and manages
the movement of all phenomena.
Therefore, if a company carries out
good corporate activities with this law
(Myō-Hō) in their background, it will be
possible for all phenomena to act as
a tailwind.
Also, the same is true for the
countermeasure against the coronavirus.
Through the Law of Origin, you are to
move all phenomena including your
physical function, and repel the
coronavirus.
In preparation for a new Era
Now I said above “we have entered
an Era in which we cannot feel at ease
no matter how much assets we own.”
But if you have the Law of Origin and
do the Act ① and Act ②’s Mercy and
Wisdom action, the situation will be
different. You can be assured. This is
because your good deeds will be
expanded and strengthened by the
power of the Law of Origin, and your
well-being and prosperity will surely
increase in any Era.
For example, suppose you now have
a son or daughter. They are already
adults, have a family and are living far
away.
For instance, even if your work is going
well, you may be worried and anxious
about them if you lose contact from
distant son (or daughter).
“Isn’t there something happened?”
Even more so, now is the time when
coronavirus infections are socially
widespread, you will be worried about
their infection and financial situation.
“Is their work going well?”
“Are my grandchildren healthy and well?”
and so on.
For instance, if you email distant family,
they may not respond to you for a while.
Then you’ll be worried.
At such times, suppose you have the
Law of Origin, perform the Mercy and
Wisdom of Act ① and Act ②, and send
mercy for the well-being of the world and
citizens. Then the effect of that good
deeds is expanded and strengthened by
the power of the Law of Origin, and works
to far away. And by that effect, you can be
confident that the well-being and safety
of your family is guaranteed.
Therefore, you can be assured.
Similarly, suppose you spent some of the
money that you’ve earned from sweating
in your work, on the “Activities to inform
the Law of Origin to people.” Then, the
value of that money will be expanded
and strengthened in the same way as
the actions of Act ① and Act ② that you
perform, and its effect will be useful for
the well-being and prosperity of the
distant family. And that becomes clear
to you. Therefore, you can be assured.
Now among the act I said above, the
former is “Law Donation” and the latter
is “Property Donation.” In both cases,
the effect of its merit and reward work
to far away.
Even if your family far away doesn’t
contact you, you can be assured as
long as you are performing the actions
like above. You will think, “When there is
no contact, when they are going well.
when there is contact, when there is
something.” There is no anxiety there.
In other words, you can be assured with
or without contact.
Why I talk about this kind of thing here
now is that Doubts, Suspicions, and
Distrusts in human relationships dose
not much occur when people are in
direct contact with each other. However,
they often happen once you are far away
and lose contact. In other words, Suspicion,
Anxiety, and Distrust often occur when
people are far apart from each other.
This is true not only between individuals,
but also between countries, national
leaders and politicians. In the case of
nations, the loss of contact and talks
with each other arises suspicions in the
minds of both leaders, which develops
into “Distrusts” and sometimes
strengthens military power to defend
their own nations.
The tragic wars of the past, such as the
two big wars of the 20th century and the
Cold War, fundamentally began through
such a process. And it caused the victims
of countless innocent people.
This should never be repeated again.
Therefore, in order to eradicate the
“Suspicions and Distrusts” that arise
in the human mind, which are the root
causes of such wars, we elucidate where
they originate fundamentally. And here
I am talking concretely about the
fundamental solution, the “Effect and
power of the Law of Origin.”
When the power of the Law of
Origin works in the workplace
Next, let’s talk about how the power
of the Law of Origin affects your
workplace and your company.
This Article has continuation.
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