Big, Big, Economic Crash

China Flu (and the over-reaction) is hurting--seriously.

...March industrial production data released by the Federal Reserve makes clear the damage to factories. The index declined by 5.4 percent, its largest drop since 1946, while output dropped 6.3 percent, also its biggest fall in seven decades, with the pain felt across most industries.

While acknowledging the data were “very bad,” Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics warned the worst was yet to come.

“Further big drops are likely in April, because lockdowns began to bite hard only in mid-March, so roughly half the month was largely unaffected by the virus crisis,” he said in a note....

We're not done yet.

...States across the US have experienced runs on grocery stores as people stocked up in the face of the pandemic, but that wasn’t enough to stop retail sales from diving in Commerce Department data that showed an 8.7 percent drop from February.

Food service and drinking places were predictably hard hit, with sales plunging 26.5 percent, while motor vehicles saw sales collapse by 25.6 percent....

That's just March.  April auto sales will be worse.

Anybody who knows anything about "motor vehicle sales" knows that the Kung Flu is killing far more than "just the auto manufacturers."  There are thousands of auto parts suppliers who will be reducing or eliminating production well into 2020/2021 when the auto manufacturers cut back orders.
Just to be clear:  ONE-SIXTH of the US economy is auto-related. 

You say that the ChinaFlu is NOT a weapon?  Keep thinking that way.  As my parents used to say, "Ignorance is bliss."

That accounts for the smarmy grin on this puss.