Analysts are fond of saying that when the US sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold. The same could apply to China, which is the world's second-largest economy after the US and currently in the grip of a coronavirus crisis. Financial markets declined earlier this week as the virus continued to spread fast in far-flung corners of the globe, with investors worried about the negative effects on the global economy of a shrinking Chinese economy. Worries apply to South Africa, too, with analysts telling Bloomberg news agency that sub-Saharan Africa could be hit hard as Chinese demand for resources mined in Africa evaporates. US investors initially shrugged of Covid-19 fears, but as The Wall Street Journal's editorial board warns: there's a limit to how much the US Fed can play with interest rates to compensate for a global slowdown. The same applies to a country like South Africa. The economic contamination, if not the viral disease, will touch many of us. – Jackie Cameron
