BuSINESS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020:: LATIMES.COM/BUSINESS

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DOW25,018.16▲1,167.14 S&P5002,882.23 135.67▲▲NASDAQ8,344.25 393.58 GOLD$1,659.10 15.40▼ OIL$34.36 3.23▲EURO$1.1292▼ .0166 U.S. T-NOTE(10-yr.) .75% 0.26▲

Price war over

oil escalates

Saudis vow to supply

12.3 million barrels a

day next month to

flood the market, and

Russia follows suit. C

PG&E, FEMA

reach a deal

The agency would cut

the utility’s fire relief

bill from $3.9 billion

to $1 billion under a

settlement. C

Quibi is sued

over key feature

Interactive video firm

Eko accuses the

upcoming streaming

service of infringing

on its patent. C

Stocks recover

part of big drop

Major indexes jump

5% amid hopes the

U.S. will try to ease

the coronavirus’

economic pain. C

As fears of a coronavirus
pandemic spread, Holly-
wood is feeling the effects at
the international box office,
especially in China and Italy,
where theaters are closed.
But in the U.S., it’s un-
clear how much of a damper
the virus will put on movie-
going.
Last weekend’s box-of-
fice returns suggest that
Americans are still largely
willing to go out to cinemas,
despite increasing numbers
of cases in states including
California, New York and
Washington. Movies in the
U.S. and Canada generated
$103.4 million from Friday
through Sunday, up 4% from
the previous weekend, ac-
cording to data firm Com-
score.
“When we look at the
numbers in the U.S., we’re

not seeing an impact as of

yet,” said Paul Dergarabe-

dian, a box-office analyst for

Comscore.

Of course, that is likely to

change. Studio executives

are still bracing for at least

some drop-off domestically,

depending on how long and

how severe the outbreak

gets.

In a sign of broader rising

concerns, the California De-

partment of Public Health

on Monday issued guide-

lines for how event organ-

izers should handle mass

gatherings amid the grow-

ing number of cases of the

coronavirus infections.

The highly anticipated

annual South by Southwest

festival in Austin, Texas, was

canceled last week, and the

Coachella Valley Music and

Arts Festival has been re-

scheduled to October.

However, a close look at

box-office data creates a

blurry picture of how con-

sumers are reacting.

In the hard-hit Seattle

area, box office was down 4%

last weekend from a week

ago, indicating a potential

slowdown there, according

to distribution executives

U.S. box office seems immune, for now

PIXAR’S“Onward” grossed just $40 million over the weekend, but analysts didn’t

blame virus fears. The U.S. and Canada box office was up 4% from a week earlier.

Pixar

Domestic returns are

holding up even in

cities with rising cases

of virus. But some

studios have cold feet.

By Ryan Faughnder

[SeeMovies,C3]

It’s natural
for decision-
makers
grappling
with a new
crisis to
dust off
ideas tried
in the last
one,
whether they were good
ideas or bad. Here’s a bad
idea, unearthed by Presi-
dent Trump from a decade
ago: cutting the payroll tax
to goose the economy.
A payroll tax cut was
part of the arsenal used by
President Obama to fight
the Great Recession in 2011.
It was a bad idea then, and a
bad idea now.
In remarks at a news
conference Monday, Trump
mentioned a payroll tax cut
as a possible component of a
stimulus plan to counteract
a coronavirus-related econ-
omic slump. As of this writ-
ing, the administration
hasn’t released many de-
tails. At a meeting with
congressional Republicans
on Tuesday, according to
CNBC, Trump pitched
rolling back the payroll tax
to 0% through the end of
this year, and possibly per-
manently. Either option
would almost certainly die
in the Democratic-con-
trolled House.
Regardless of how it’s
designed, a payroll tax cut
would be poorly targeted,
delivering the most help to
households least in need. It
would have only a diluted
impact over time. And it
would undermine Social
Security, the program most
dependent on the payroll
tax.
Who would be helped by
the payroll tax cut? More-
affluent workers, that’s who.
A 2% cut in the payroll tax
would come to $2,754 for
everyone earning the tax-
able maximum of $137,700 or
more. For a two-earner
household at the maximum,
the cut would come to an
annual $5,508.
A 2% cut would put only
$500 in the pocket of a single
parent earning $25,000 a
year, former Obama econo-
mic advisor Jason Furman
observed on Twitter. Hourly

Payroll

tax cut

still bad

idea for

stimulus

MICHAEL HILTZIK

[SeeHiltzik,C5]

The coronavirus out-

break continued to take its

toll on the travel industry,

with the world’s largest air-

lines announcing cuts Tues-

day to their seat capacity

amid plummeting demand

for air travel.

Delta, United and Ameri-

can Airlines have all an-

nounced cuts in capacity of

as much as 65% on interna-

tional routes and 15% on do-

mestic routes, in addition to

waiving fees for passengers

who want to rebook their

reservations to a future date.

The drop in demand has

already prompted some air-

fare discounts for those will-

ing to fly amid an outbreak

that has killed more than

4,200 people worldwide, in-

cluding 29 in the U.S., with

thousands more infected.

“As the virus has spread,

we have seen a decline in de-

mand across all entities, and

we are taking decisive action

to also protect Delta’s finan-

cial position,” Delta Chief

Executive Ed Bastian said in

a statement Tuesday. “As a

result, we have made the dif-

ficult, but necessary deci-

sion to immediately reduce

capacity and are imple-

menting cost reductions

and cash flow initiatives

across the organization.”

The cost reductions in-

clude a hiring freeze and

a grounding of unused

planes as well as delaying

capital expenditures and

buying company stock,

Bastian said.

The cuts come after years

of increasing demand for air

travel thanks to a strong do-

mestic economy, stable fuel

prices and relatively cheap

fares.

U.S. airlines have also

benefited from a boost in

international visitors flying

to the U.S., although that

has slowed slightly in the

last year because of trade

tensions with China and a

strong U.S. currency, which

made it more expensive for

foreign travelers to visit

here.

The reductions in capac-

ity come at a time when

leisure and business travel

were expected to increase

for the peak spring-break

Virus

forces

U.S.

airline

cuts

Delta, United and

American Airlines

slash seat capacity as

demand falls because

of coronavirus fears.

By Hugo Martín

[SeeAirlines,C6]

Curry House employees were shocked to

learn last month that — with no warning,

several said — they had all lost their jobs

amid the abrupt closure of the popular Jap-

anese-American restaurant chain.

But perhaps they wouldn’t have been

surprised had they known the track record

of the Texas investment company that took

over the restaurants in June.

Lawsuits filed in recent years by former

employees of several eateries owned by

Food Management Partners subsidiaries

or affiliates center on alleged labor law vio-

lations — including the flouting of state and

federal regulations designed to protect

workers from unexpected mass layoffs.

The cases point to a pattern: Food Man-

agement Partners acquires troubled

restaurant groups, then quickly shuts

down many locations. No notice is given to

customers or employees, with some learn-

ing of their fate when they arrive at work to

find the front door locked. Food industry

experts and attorneys who’ve dealt with

Food Management Partners told The

Times that the

ALLCurry House locations in California, including this one in Gardena, were closed last month. Their

operator, Food Management Partners, has closed more than 200 other restaurants in the last five years.

Garrett SnyderLos Angeles Times

Curry House follows

sadly familiar recipe

Operator snaps up troubled chains, then shuts many sites

THEADOREJohn Balaschak, left, Tam Hoang and Richard

Chong lost their jobs when Curry House in Torrance closed.

Irfan KhanLos Angeles Times

By Daniel Miller

and Garrett Snyder

[SeeCurry House,C4]