El apagón

The appearance of an unknown virus in China in December 2019 earned brief and confusing headlines, as no one knew how to foresee its subsequent transformation into a global pandemic. In a matter of weeks, the global economy came to an abrupt halt: planes were grounded, supply chains were breaking, and entire sectors such as tourism reduced their activity to zero. Even financial markets, so allergic to risk, could not preserve themselves from an economic collapse that caused the fastest and strongest fall in equity markets since 1929. Overnight, our world changed and 2020 became a turning year. The great chronicler of the past financial crisis, economist Adam Tooze, presents us with the best-informed analysis on the history of that shutdown and where we are headed. Thanks to its privileged access to data, its protagonists and institutions, it is recounted, in a convincing and sometimes shocking way, how this challenge has affected both the great world economic centers and emerging markets. As we cling to the miracle of technology and knowledge in the form of a vaccine, the coronavirus crisis has demonstrated our fragility.