What we learned this week: January 30 to February 6

THE WEEK IN CORONAVIRUS There were 1,970,009 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 48,985 deaths at press time yesterday, as against 1,915,362 cases and 47,775 deaths the previous Friday. One death last weekend was not caused by Covid-19 but was a high-profile episode within the quarantine saga – Abigail Jiménez, 12, the terminal cancer patient who … Read more

Oxfam hails Argentina’s ‘wealth tax’ as law takes effect

In what amounts to rare praise for Argentina’s politics and economic policies, global anti-poverty charity Oxfam hailed the Alberto Fernández administration’s one-off capital levy on wealthy citizens this week, calling on other nations to follow suit. In reaction to the pandemic, countries should raise wealth taxes like Argentina, Oxfam told the Davos Economic Forum (held … Read more

Argentina to reduce flights to and from Brazil, Mexico, Europe, US

Argentina’s aviation authorities have instructed carriers to dramatically reduce the number of flights to a number of countries to reduce the risk of Covid-19 contagion. The National Administration of Civil Aviation (ANAC) this week sent a bulletin to airlines instructing them to cut the amount of flights to Brazil, Mexico, the US and a handful European … Read more

Economic growth has 'devastating cost to nature', review finds

Humanity’s unbridled growth in recent decades has come at a “devastating cost to nature” according a wide-ranging international review on the vital economic role played by our living planet.  The 600-page rundown of scientific material commissioned by the British government highlighted the precarious state of biodiversity and warned that only a sea change in how … Read more

UN: Covid shrinks Latin American trade for 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has triggered the steepest drop in Latin American foreign trade in 2020 since the global financial crisis more than a decade ago, a UN body said Friday. Exports from the region are estimated to have fallen 13 percent in value in 2020, and imports by 20 percent, the UN Economic Commission for Latin … Read more