Final Word from Tuesday, March 24, 2020

A new infection arrived in town yesterday in a big way. It's at least 10 times more contagious than the coronavirus, and everyone will want to catch it. It's coming not from Wuhan, but from the Czech government and the Czech National Bank. They took major steps on Mon. toward the deliberate release of hundreds of billions of newly printed crowns into the economy. This kind of sudden jolt to the system, once it lands in your bank account, is extremely infectious and makes past troubles be forgotten. The corona disease that scared the daylights out of nearly every person in the country will start to recede to the background. No longer will it be test kits, stylish facial accessories or social distancing that are on people's minds. It'll be more important to have a good lawyer, a creative accountant or a plugged-in tax adviser. Andrej Babiš took "full political responsibility" last night for a situation that is "developing very well." He'll be judged just as much on how well he now handles the distribution of the billions of crowns in newly printed money, and on how much of it goes to billionaires like him who don't need it. [ Czech Republic subsidies quantitative easing CNB China ]