A man walks his dog along a street lined with closed cafes and stores in Madrid, Spain, on May 7. Italy and Spain, the two European countries most severely hit by the coronavirus, are suffering even deeper economic slumps after record contractions in the first quarter. Photo: Bloomberg A man walks his dog along a street lined with closed cafes and stores in Madrid, Spain, on May 7. Italy and Spain, the two European countries most severely hit by the coronavirus, are suffering even deeper economic slumps after record contractions in the first quarter. Photo: Bloomberg
A man walks his dog along a street lined with closed cafes and stores in Madrid, Spain, on May 7. Italy and Spain, the two European countries most severely hit by the coronavirus, are suffering even deeper economic slumps after record contractions in the first quarter. Photo: Bloomberg
Anthony Rowley
Opinion

Opinion

Macroscope by Anthony Rowley

How the coronavirus has exposed the global economy’s pre-existing vulnerabilities – an overdependence on easy money

  • While lockdowns and other pandemic-related restrictions have hit economies hard, the world was already grappling with record levels of debt, asset inflation and an over-reliance on monetary stimulus

Anthony Rowley
Anthony Rowley

Updated: 1:17am, 1 Jun, 2020

Why you can trust SCMP
A man walks his dog along a street lined with closed cafes and stores in Madrid, Spain, on May 7. Italy and Spain, the two European countries most severely hit by the coronavirus, are suffering even deeper economic slumps after record contractions in the first quarter. Photo: Bloomberg A man walks his dog along a street lined with closed cafes and stores in Madrid, Spain, on May 7. Italy and Spain, the two European countries most severely hit by the coronavirus, are suffering even deeper economic slumps after record contractions in the first quarter. Photo: Bloomberg
A man walks his dog along a street lined with closed cafes and stores in Madrid, Spain, on May 7. Italy and Spain, the two European countries most severely hit by the coronavirus, are suffering even deeper economic slumps after record contractions in the first quarter. Photo: Bloomberg
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Anthony Rowley

Anthony Rowley

Anthony Rowley is a veteran journalist specialising in Asian economic and financial affairs. He was formerly Business Editor and International Finance Editor of the Hong Kong-based Far Eastern Economic Review and worked earlier on The Times newspaper in London