• 2019 FEDERAL & CALIFORNIA INCOME TAX FILINGS & PAYMENTS ARE NOW DEFERRED TO JULY 15, without interest or penalty, as result of IRS and Franchise Tax Board coronavirus response.

• “THE ECONOMIC PANDEMIC WILL BE FAR MORE PAINFUL THAN THIS VIRUS PANDEMIC. One person’s spending is another person’s income. That’s how an economy works and what our $87 trillion global economy is all about. The domino affect fallout that happens when one segment of society stops spending is quickly multiplied, affecting people in every other country. To be sure, the coronavirus is more economically contagious than it is medically contagious. And death rates from a bad economy can easily make virus death rates look like a walk in the park, as bankruptcies, homelessness, suicides, scammer-campaigns, burglaries, petty theft, and other criminal activity will skyrocket.” Just be aware. [THOMAS FREY] .

• BEYOND MEDICAL & ECONOMIC, THE PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF ‘STAY AT HOME’ POLICIES due to coronavirus are likely to be substantial. Nearly six in ten Americans who are sports fans attend or watch games regularly, and annually wager (mostly illegally) up to $150 billion. So sudden countrywide cancellation of all sporting events, along with disappearance of alternative entertainment sources (movies, theater, concerts, game halls, bars, etc.) are likely to have a major effect on consumer sentiment and morale. “If all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, no work and no play risks making Jack (& Jill) depressed and discontented… There are only so many Netflix shows one can binge-watch.” [ECONOMIST – 3/21/20]

• ANOTHER CORONA CRISIS IMPACT INVOLVES RELEASING INCARCERATED PEOPLE EARLY. The American criminal legal system “holds some 2.3 million in detention centers, psychiatric hospitals, jails & prisons… most living in overcrowded conditions: windowless rooms, shared bathrooms/laundry/eating areas, often four-to-a-cell sharing toilets doubling as the sink for hand-washing (absent sanitizer because of alcohol content), tooth-brushing and other hygiene.” District Attorneys across the country are now increasingly allowing Release for misdemeanors but also pretrial detainees and for nonviolent felonies – ostensibly “where the person poses no threat to public safety.” What could go wrong? [NEW YORK TIMES – 3/16/20]

•“AMONG ANY LEADER’S MOST FUNDAMENTAL QUALITIES is his/her willingness to face unknown risks in pursuit of a vision, motivating people toward an objective, no matter what. It’s easy to recognize a good leader in the wake of success and not always so in the wake of a disaster, but to persevere and rally people to continue following with loyalty and trust is true leadership… While it’s not uncommon to find that some followers are driven by greed, fear, blind devotion, or just because they need to keep their jobs, the critical factor is following with patience to trust a positive outcome and not acting in any manner which could subvert the outcome.” [LES J. GOODWIN]

• THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:

One minor upside for Europeans from the corona-crisis: ISIS official newspaper al-Naba “advised its scattered army of martyrdom-seeking terrorists to avoid Europe: land of the epidemic torment sent by God on whomsoever He wills.”

     ‘Ted Talks’ discussed and described in depth what the next (when, not if) Pandemic would look like – Bill Gates five years ago, and an epidemiologist on the Smallpox Eradication team fifteen years ago. This coronavirus is an ‘equal opportunity infector’ which could and should convince politicians & media to re-examine their stupid fractional division over power and winning election – at least long enough to get us through this crisis and prepare effectively to combat what will surely repeat. Should, but sadly unlikely.