The Eeonomist March 21st 2020~ 6.7m in early March. A survey in Britain for
Barclaycard, a payments fl.rm, points to
year-on-year growth of u.% in subscription
entertainment services like Nettlix in the
four weeks to Febnwy mt, and of nearly
9% growth in food takeaway and delivery
spending. Amazon is hiring 100,000 new
distribution workers in America to meet
demand for internet shopping.
Bricks-and-mortar firms that have in-
vested in online offerings are also cashing
in. A survey of American shoppers con-
ducted on.March 13th by Gordon Haskett, a
research firm, found that one in three
bought food online in the previous week.
Among the 41% doing so for the first time,
over half chose Walmart, with its conve-
nient grocery pickup and delivery service.
In Britain Tesco and Sainsbwy maybe out-
pacing Aldi and Udl, European discount
chains that have invested less online.
And, of course, any fum that comes up
withavaccineortreatmentforcovid"'19can
expect a bonanza Amid the market melt-
down the share price of Gilead, a biotech-
nology firm working on a coronavirus
drug, is up by 20% this year.
one lasting consequence of the pan-
demic will almost certainly be further con-
centration of corpoJatepowerin the hands
ofafewsuperstarfirms. Thecunentairline
carnage may leave skies everywhere re-
sembling the uncompetitive ones above
North America. JPMorgan Chase, a bank,
obseives that American caniers generate
two-thirds of global airline profits with
barely a fifth of worldwide capacity (not to
mention shabby service). Similar consoli-
dation now looks all too probable in Eu-
rope andAsia.
Companies with the most resilient
businesses, deepest pockets and longest
investmenthorizonsmaygrowmoresuper
still through cut-price acquisitions. Ru-
mours swirl that Apple, with a gross cash
pile of over $2oobn and Tinseltown ambi-
tions, may swoop in to buy Disney, whose
share price has nearly halved since January.
wanen Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway. who
is sitting on $12Sbn and bas long grumbled
about overpriced equities, may at last find a
bargain or two. Having Jaised a record
$888bn last year, private-equity finns are
on the prowl. Steve schwart2man declared
earlier this month that the dislocation and
fear caused by the coronavirus bas created
·a substantial opportunity" for Blackstone,
the buy-out powerhouse he leads.
The Depression wreaked economic hav-
oc but also produced radlcal new business
models from carmaking and entertain-
ment to beauty products. In time, today's
crisis, too, may lead to some corpoJate res-
urrections-and plenty of new births.
comparisons to that agonising time in
world history must not be made lightly.
That they look apt is a sign of just how bad
things are looking right now. •
ManufacturingMy iron lung
Demand for meatbmg apparatus
pudy outstrips supplyM
UCH OP THB panic-buying provolr2d
bythecovid-19 pandemic seems over-
blown. Grocers insist they are not about to
mo out of food. But in one category of pro-
duct, scarcity is all too real. ovetWhelmed
healthservicesaredesperatelyshortofme-
cbanical ventilators to help the roughly
10% of sufferers with severe symptoms to
breathe. Political leaders are urging exist-
ing specialist producers to ramp up pro-
duction. Germany's government ordered
16,ooo new machines from two domestic
producers. Others, like Britain's prime
minister, Boris Johnson, want manufactur-
ers of all stripes to retool and help out. That
is easier said than done.
n is hard to pin down how many venti-
lators health-care systems have on band.
The last SUIVey of ventilator capacity in
America was ten years ago. It tallied 62,ooo
sophisticated machines and 100,000 basic
ones. American health authorities are now
hastily counting anew. They are likely to
find fewer than 200,000, 80-90% of which
are typically used by non-covid patients. A
rough calculation by The Economist sug-
gests that, if the virus keeps spreading at
the current rate, America would run out of- Cepitelilt ••
Business st
- Too little bn1thin1 room
ICU* ventilators per 100,000 population aged 65+
2020 or latl!sl awilable
e Mlddle estimate High estlmatet
0 30 60
United States
Gennanv
Austria
Canada .._.
Ireland ....
Australia ...
Britain ...
Italy ...
Spain ..
China ..
France ..
New ZealandSouroes: NatiCNI statistics;
preu repom; 1lle Eal/lam rft90 120 150- •
- •
"1 ntens M!-a re unit
t>.w.imlng~ rnctease
en repcrti?d numberspare devices in four weeks. The situation
is worse in other countries (see chart).
In 20l9 ventilator-makers had the ca-
pacity to chum out just 40,000 units suit-
able for intensive care, according to Get-
inge, a SWedish firm which makes one in
four such machines sold worldwide. Most
companies build kit, which costs any-
where between $10,ooo and $60,000
apiece, to order Jather than keep inven-
tories. Premier, a finn that bought 2,000
last year on behalf of 40% of America's hos-
pitals, says that buyers must now wait 8-12
weeks for new ones to arrive, not a fort-
night as in normal times. Getinge's order ~Marlllll:
United States, bigest CDmpanies' board members by age
Man:h 16th 2020ecEO Others- Board Mnge
apltlllntlon
$tm"'lO^40 so^60 70 80 90 100
Berkshire Hathaway • • 0.48
Apple 1.22
Johnson &Johmon • • 0.35
JPMo'lln Chase ... • o.n
Visa • I • 0.35
Amamn • • !• • OM
Alphabet • •
I
... • OJM
Microsoft • • I • 1.21
Wiima rt •I
· · - 1o.n
Fec:ebook • •I I
I I. .. 0.49~ra:: Blocmbe!J
S&P 500 aYef1111l"!Vert golden oldies
On March 1Jth Bill Gates stepped down from the boards of Microsoft, the software giant
he founded, and Berkshire Hath~ a company run by his plutocrat pal, warren
Buffett. The 64-year-old Mr Gates'• replacement at Microsoft has not been named. At
Berkshire, he will be sucaseded by Ken Chenault,, a respected fonner boss of American
Express. Mr Chenault, who is four years older than Mr Gates, may not look like the fresh
blood the underperforrnlng conglornente needs, exactly. But relative to Its ancient
boardroom, which Includes three nonapnarians, he looks positively epheblc.