The past few weeks have comprised a particularly strange news cycle — good news, bad news, weird news. Using emojis to signify which is which seems insensitive, even in the age of social media. We’ll stay old school: arrows, and of necessity a “huh?” or two.
↑ President Donald Trump signed the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which won bipartisan Senate approval Jan. 16. The USMCA is a cross between NAFTA and the Transpacific Partnership that Trump scuttled. Getting it signed is good news for business, including Arkansas businesses and Arkansas farmers. The state’s biggest trade partners are Mexico and Canada.
↔ The U.S. economy grew 2.1% in fourth-quarter 2019. That moderate pace brought the growth rate of gross domestic product to 2.3% for the entire year, the nation’s slowest economic performance since 2016.
↓ The national debt will hit its highest level since World War II in the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. It’s projected to be 81% of GDP this year and to hit 98% by 2030.
↓ As of Thursday, the coronavirus has killed 170 people in China and sickened more than 7,700. Sixty-eight cases have been reported in other parts of the world, including five confirmed in the United States. A sixth possible — repeat, “possible” — case has emerged in Arkansas, according to the state Health Department.
Huh? Some people seem to think that the coronavirus is linked to Corona beer, the tasty brew from Mexico. It is not. We repeat: The coronavirus is not related to Corona beer. But Google Trends shows a surge in searches for “corona beer virus,” “beer virus” and “beer coronavirus” since Jan. 18.
Huh? U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Thursday said the outbreak could bring jobs back to the U.S. Perhaps. But not in the way sane people would hope for.
Sign up for Daily E-news
