In This Edition

Key Takeaways

The IMF slashed its 2020 economic outlook from a global contraction of 1.9 percent to 4.9 percent. Many countries are facing shortages of life-saving oxygen concentrators. Deaths in Latin America surpassed 100,000.

Condition Updates

A rundown of important global developments in markets, in business, and region-by-region, as well as statistical risk assessments by country and by US state.

Industry in Focus: Artificial Intelligence

While the coronavirus pandemic’s primary economic effect has seen devastation of global industries, AI has emerged as a potential winner of 2020.  New financial constraints, health incentives to take human risk out of the physical workspace, and the need for fast results in processing vast amounts of data have contributed to an increased use of AI.  However, skeptics warn that the hype is outpacing its actual utility as the technology’s drawbacks become clearer, among them concerns about bias in AI algorithms that may have dangerous consequences.

Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and the Pandemic Economy

Triple economic crises - the largest coronavirus outbreak in the region, an oil over supply crisis that cratered prices just as the pandemic began, and a global economic downturn keeping oil demand and prices low - is laying bare weaknesses of the economy, and endangering many of the sectors the government had planned to diversify into, namely tourism and entertainment. With few tools to stimulate the economy, budget cuts could have an effect on domestic and international policy.

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