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Hello and welcome to the edition, the Spectator's weekly podcast discussing some of the most important

and intriguing issues within our pages each week with the writers behind them.

I'm Cindy Yu. This week we take a look at the exceptional nature of coronomics and what comes after. We also take a look at Sweden

where things are done a little bit differently. And at the very end, I talked to someone who's

very used to solitude, explorer Jeff Wilson. First, in this week's cover article, Kate Andrews writes about the absurdity of coronomics, pointing out how this economic slowdown is unlike any other.

She's also joined in the magazine and on the podcast now by the former FT editor Lionel Barber in his first article since stepping down.

Kate, let's start with you. Can you tell us about the absurdity of coronomics?

Coronomics is this new study of economics that has been forced upon us because of COVID-19.

And it's like nothing we've ever seen before. We've had recessions, depressions, crashes,

really bad ones. But unlike these instances that came before, now you have a scenario where you can't stimulate the

economy as you once would have done to get things back on track. Because of the public health

risks around COVID-19, it's important that we're not out boosting the economy, spending

money. We have to stay indoors for the health of ourselves and our loved ones and our neighbors.

So the government has to find a way to keep the economy afloat as we get through this while also not

stimulating normal economic activity. Because of that, you've seen, you know, big sectors essentially have to

shut down, hibernate. But on the other side, you're seeing some booms in other sectors, especially

around online deliveries, supermarkets, and the rest. I mean, our sense of supply and demand,

...