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Covid-19 lessons from Down Under

Weekend Reading
Bloomberg

When summer fades in the U.S. and Europe, the subsequent Covid-19 resurgence could be worse than the first wave as people shelter together from the cold, lessons from Australia show. The same aggressive measures that President Donald Trump and Republican state governors ignored have helped authorities in places like Vietnam beat back the virus. Mumbai's poorest areas may have one of the highest levels of herd immunity worldwide, while Hong Kong, now under a "national security law" imposed by Beijing, delayed a legislative election for a year, citing the coronavirus as a reason. Trump's trial balloon about unconstitutionally postponing his own country's election was shot down by everyone.

What you'll want to read this weekend

The pandemic has ravaged business worldwide. The U.S. economy suffered its sharpest downturn since records began, but White America got a head start on the government's small-business relief program. Germany had the worst slump in half a century as the virus sent the euro-area economy into a deep recession.

As the economy slumped, big tech grew even bigger and that landed Robinhood traders a win. The antitrust scrutiny shouldn't just focus on the "Fab Four," Noah Smith writes in Bloomberg Opinion. In China, regulators are said to be weighing an antitrust probe into Ant Group's Alipay and Tencent's WeChat Pay. In the U.S., Microsoft and others are mulling buying TikTok, but Trump said he wants it banned anyway.

With tens of millions of Americans unemployed, a massive rush to freelancer sites has resulted in everyone getting paid less. Some people are worried they've got too much in cash, and small business owners are relying on their personal credit cards to survive. One thing's for sure: work-life balance has changed forever.

From pets to sex to celebrity bad behavior, Bloomberg Businessweek tells the shocking secrets of what happens aboard private jets. For anyone wanting to pay a little more and go a little higher, Virgin Galactic has already sold 600 tickets for its jaunt into space. Meanwhile, NASA launched its latest Mars rover, which will try to make oxygen on the red planet.

It looks like the world is falling out of love with beef, and that's good for the planet. Walmart begins selling Impossible Foods' plant-based burger in over 2,000 stores. But if you still crave a Sweet and Smoky Cheeseburger, here's a recipe from George W. Bush's former chef.

What you'll need to know next week

What you'll want to read in Businessweek

Americans Aren't Making Babies, and That's Bad

For the economy, anyway. The pandemic spawned predictions that stay-at-home orders would eventually deliver a baby bump. Yet far from having more kids than usual, Americans are expecting fewer. The U.S. could see 500,000 fewer births next year, which will have economic repercussions long after the crisis is over.

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