Prof. ST Hsieh
Director, US-China Energy Industry Forum
626-376-7460
It is time to call a global summit on COVID-19 Pandemic by STH 2022-01-18.
The Global COVID-19 Pandemic is more than two years old, hopefully peaking of Omicron is coming soon. The Pandemic has already caused unprecedent death, suffering and a broken global economy.
In the USA, President Biden is under significant pressure threatening his young presidency. For example, the headline by USA TODAY reads as following.
Biden’s approval rating drops to new low of 33% on concerns about his handling of COVID, economy: poll
Joey Garrison USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s approval rating dropped to 33% in a new Quinnipiac University poll, the lowest mark of any major public survey during his presidency, as he takes a beating over his handling of the economy and coronavirus.
The poll, conducted Jan. 7 though Jan. 10 and released Wednesday, found 33% of all 1,313 adults surveyed approve of Biden’s job performance, while 53% disapprove. Ten percent did not offer an opinion.
The poll has a margin of error of 2.7 percentage points. When isolating just registered voters, Biden’s approval rating improves slightly to 35%.
Biden’s dismal numbers come as inflation has soared to a 39-year high and COVID-19 cases, which were on the decline last summer, have spiked to an all-time high amid the rise of the highly contagious omicron variant. Biden, who is nearing his first full year in office, campaigned on getting the pandemic under control and reviving the economy.
“COVID,” Tim Malloy, polling analyst for Quinnipiac, said of the main factor behind Biden’s polling slide. “It’s a looming cloud over the country right now and over the presidency.”
The majority of Americans also gave Biden a thumbs down on the economy. Thirty-four percent of poll respondents said they approve of Biden’s handling of the economy, compared to 57% who disapprove, and 35% said they approve of his handling of foreign policy, while 54% disapprove.
It is obvious, all the devils are interwoven closely. Pandemic caused economy to slow down, disrupted supply chain also contribute to inflation. We must realize that pandemic and economy are global issues, they can not be happily resolved by one nation or one part of the world. COVID-19 nis a global pandemic and we live in a globalized economy. Biden can have an effective foreign policy along with stabilizing the pandemic and prosperous economy. It is not going to be easy, but Biden needs to deliver soon, the mid-term election clock is ticking like a time bomb for his presidency.
One of the driving forces of inflation is the energy price. Both Brent crude futures and U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures—hit their highest levels since October 2014 January 18, the latter climbing above $85 per barrel. If oil prices remain elevated in the months ahead, inflationary pressures will only persist. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said he sees those pressures lasting well into the middle of 2022 but warned the Fed will have to raise rates “more over time” if they last longer than expected. If so, it is bad news for Biden and the US.
It is time for major economies call a global summit on COVID-19 Pandemic. So far, each nation is dealing with the Pandemic single handedly, the results are not encouraging. At the on set of Pandemic, it was a surprise attack to anyone, so everybody reacted by instincts. After two years, the world has vaccines, medicines, and experiences for dealing with the virus and its variants. We have lessons learned but not shared, major challenges remain for a real global containment of the Pandemic. Cross border control including quarantine requirement is already a major factor interrupting supply chains and personnel mobility. UN and WHO are working hard but stretched out too thin. It is time for the US and China taking up the global leadership now: the post-Pandemic economy recovery will not happen if it is not coordinated. Further, next Pandemic is around the corner.