| Deal struck on U.S. stimulus, Germany opens the taps, and markets add to rally. Agreement Republican and Democrat Senators reached a deal with the White House on a stimulus package that is set to unleash more than $2 trillion in spending and tax breaks to bolster the U.S. economy and fund the effort to combat the coronavirus outbreak. The package includes $500 billion in loan guarantees, $350 billion to aid small businesses and direct payments of $1,200 to people who are not high earners. The bill, which is still being drafted, was described by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer as an "outstanding agreement." The Senate is expected to vote on it later today, before it goes to the House, and then on to President Donald Trump for his signature. German spending It is not just the U.S. announcing massive fiscal stimulus: Governments around the world are pumping money into their economies to fight the economic effects of virus shutdowns. Lawmakers in Germany are set to become the latest to step up to the plate as they vote today on a massive 750 billion euros ($812 billion) package of measures which would include new borrowing requirements of 156 billion euros. With much of Europe's economic activity already grinding to a halt, there are increasing calls from governments in some of the worst-hit countries for a regional response to the outbreak, including the issuance of joint debt by euro-area governments. Outbreak update In the U.S., the situation in New York seems to be worsening as the city has become a major center of the outbreak. The administration warned that people leaving there should self-isolate for 14 days after arrival in their destination in an attempt to control the spread of the virus. California Governor Gavin Newsom suggested that the state may have to remain in shutdown for "eight to twelve weeks," distancing himself from President Trump's comments that the U.S. economy could reopen by Easter. Elsewhere, India entered a three-week lockdown, Singapore tightened measures, and the U.K. announced the closure of Parliament. Markets add to rally Yesterday's surge in U.S. stocks was one for the history books, and all signs point to more gains today. Overnight the MSCI Asia Pacific Index jumped 5.6%, with Japan's Topix index the best performing major gauge in the region, closing 6.9% higher. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index had gained 2.9% by 5:55 a.m. Eastern Time as it failed to hold early-session highs. S&P 500 futures pointed to more green at the open, the 10-year Treasury yield was at 0.861% and gold gave back some of yesterday's rally. Coming up… Durable goods orders published at 8:30 a.m. are unlikely to move markets much as, once again, the numbers will be viewed as too stale to matter by investors. It will be a similar story for house prices data due at 9:00 a.m. Right now, the only piece of economic news markets are interested in is tomorrow's weekly jobless claims, with economists suggesting the number could be as high as 3 million. The oil market gets an update on U.S. inventories at 10:30 a.m. and Micron Technology Inc. is among the companies reporting earnings. What we've been reading This is what's caught our eye over the last 24 hours. And finally, here's what Joe's interested in this morning Whenever the topic of stimulus comes up -- fiscal or monetary -- there are people who argue that it's pointless because you can't create wealth simply by printing money out of thin air. This is an understandable intuition for people to have, since one use of money is just to "keep score" of things. If you went to a basketball game for kids, and made each basket count for 10 points instead of two, the scoreboard would be higher, but it wouldn't mean that the kids were any better at shooting baskets. We've all seen currencies of countries (e.g. Venezuela) that added a bunch of zeros to their currency, and those countries are not rich. So from this perspective, no, printing money cannot make a society wealthier. But when you think about the purpose of money on a society-wide scale, it's a lot more than a score-keeping device. What makes a nation wealthy? Is it the amount of cash it has? Of course not. (Again, Venezuela.) What makes a nation wealthy are things like natural resources, a robust and fair rule of law, the level of education of its people, and the robust functioning of a range of institutions, whether they be governmental, corporate, non-profit, or social. Some of these institutions don't require money to operate, but for many institutions (particularly companies), money is their lifeblood. Money is what keeps people showing up and working together towards some productive enterprise. Without money the people will stop showing up, and they'll never reassemble again. And so we get to the crisis at hand... a crisis that requires us, for a period of time to not show up. If the crisis is left to rage, untold number of businesses will run out of money, lay everyone off, and it will be virtually impossible to put them back together. As such, money isn't a scorekeeping device, but a relationship-preserving device or institution-preserving device. And, for at least a temporary period, simply creating money out of thin air can preserve socially productive relationships. The new stimulus bill contains $350 billion for aid to small businesses which employ an overwhelming number of Americans. That sounds like a lot of money, but if it's not enough to prevent relationships of people from disintegrating and never returning, we'll all be left unimaginably poorer.  Like Bloomberg's Five Things? Subscribe for unlimited access to trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and gain expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. | 
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