The abrupt halt of commercial activity threatens to impose economic pain so profound and enduring in every region of the world at once that recovery could take years. The losses to companies, many already saturated with debt, risk triggering a financial crisis of cataclysmic proportions
A pedestrian walks in an empty commercial and office building compound in Beijing on March 19, 2020. Fears are growing that the worldwide economic downturn delivered by the coronavirus pandemic could be especially deep and lengthy, with recovery limited by continued anxiety. Image: Gilles Sabrié/The New York Times
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