Mohamed A. El-Erian , Columnist

Four Things You Need to Know Now About the Economy and Markets

Emergency monetary and fiscal measures have acted as circuit breakers for now, but policy makers and investors need to stay vigilant.

March 25, 2020 at 2:43 PM UTC

By Mohamed A. El-Erian

Mohamed A. El-Erian is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A former chief executive officer of Pimco, he is president of Queens’ College, Cambridge; chief economic adviser at Allianz SE; and chair of Gramercy Fund Management. He is author of “The Only Game in Town.”

The coronavirus has already proved to be a generation-defining economic and financial shock.
Photographer: Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty Images

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With the announcement of sweeping monetary and fiscal emergency measures, the U.S. economy and global markets have avoided — at least for now — racing to a truly nasty place. That’s the good news. But neither is out of the woods. A very tough path lies ahead, and it will inevitably lead to more economic and financial damage and require constant policy vigilance and responsive agility.

Here are the four main things you need to know at this stage of what is a generation-defining economic and financial shock caused by the coronavirus: