Hello and welcome to the Intelligence on Economist Radio.

I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

America's graduates are saddled with crippling debts,

paying off high-rate student loans for degrees that might not have boosted their earnings much.

Even bankruptcy might not be an option.

We look at the systemic problems behind the crisis and how to fix them.

And a landmark bill passing through Scotland's Parliament

would make sanitary pads and tampons available for free to every woman in the nation.

That would be a world first, and another sign that Scotland is willing to enact radical social legislation.

First up, though.

For months, much of the world has watched the story of the new coronavirus unfold from a distance.

Now it's facing up to the reality of the spread of COVID-19.

Yesterday, California declared a state of emergency after announcing its first coronavirus fatality.

That brings America's death toll from the disease to 11.

Britain reported its largest day-on-day increase in diagnoses yet,

87 people have now been infected.

Italy, where 107 people have died, has closed down every school in the country for at least 10 days.

Every sporting event will be held behind closed doors.

In India, citizens have been advised not to travel anywhere that is affected by the virus.

That may soon be most of the world's countries.

Yet despite the spread, not every government is doing all that it should to prepare.

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