Bloomberg

The U.S. government lost almost two months as the coronavirus spread across the nation, thanks in part to unheeded intelligence, regulatory red tape, defective tests (hospitals say functional tests are still hard to come by) and a president who repeatedly downplayed the threat. Now a similar missed opportunity may be brewing with the implementation of the $2 trillion bipartisan bailout. As the number of U.S. Covid-19 cases reach 360,000, the most of any nation, and deaths surpass 10,000, the economic rescue plan is off to a rocky start. Small businesses are struggling to apply for help and lenders are having trouble with the federal loan portal. Meanwhile, Republicans and Democrats are back to political infighting, this time over what a new rescue bill should look like, or whether there should be one at all. One Wall Street friend of Donald Trump says he’s given up on the bailout.—David E. Rovella

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Here are today’s top stories

In the U.K., Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under intensive care due to coronavirus infection. In the U.S., stocks rose as some countries reported an easing of death tolls, but hospitals in New York City are buckling and medical professionals are dying because of a continued lack of protective gear. The city is also running out of drugs and ventilators to keep patients alive. But the virus is also stalking the rest of America, state by state. In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe finally moved to declare an emergency, though only in seven prefectures, while announcing a record economic package. India has banned exports of a malaria drug touted by Trump as a treatment despite a lack of conclusive evidence that it even helps. And Ferdinando Giugliano writes in Bloomberg Opinion that Spain’s terrible death toll could have been avoided as Madrid considers universal basic income to tide citizens over. Here is the latest on the pandemic.

Amid the dreadful drumbeat of virus news, Trump on Friday fired the inspector general who triggered his impeachment, the latest termination of individuals who played a role in the Congressional investigation of abuse of power tied to Ukraine. Democrats condemned the move and the timing, given the national emergency. Trump also appointed a White House lawyer to oversee the massive bailout package as Democrats express deep concern about where those billions of dollars will go, and whether there will be transparency given Trump’s initial moves to block oversight.

Former Vice President Joe Biden says he remains willing to give Trump advice on how to handle the pandemic. Biden, the Democratic frontrunner, has also discussed the process for choosing a running mate with rival Senator Bernie Sanders, and suggested the party hold a virtual convention this summer.

Prices for key global food staples are starting to soar in some parts of the world. Rice and wheat, which account for about one-third of the globe’s calories, have been making rapid climbs in spot and futures markets.

Former Fed Chair Janet Yellen says she is hoping for a “V” shaped recovery when it comes to the pandemic-smashed economy, but she is nevertheless bracing for the worst.

Gasping for air, delusional and alone—Bloomberg News editor Paula Dwyer tells the story of how she survived the coronavirus.

What’s Joe Weisenthal thinking about? The Bloomberg news director says the problem with the U.S. dollar is that its fundamentals are too strong. As fund manager Eric Lonergan has written, a currency is kind of like a social network. What makes it good is that it can be extensively used. Facebook might be a vector of fake news, but if you want to share photos with a wide network of friends, it’s basically the only game in town. And so it is with the dollar. It’s stable, liquid and widely accepted. Mark Carney has said the dollar is too good: Its position hasn’t changed even as the U.S. shrinks as a share of global GDP. When the Fed wants to tighten monetary policy, it can cause real problems for the rest of the world. Right now, everyone is desperate for the dollar because their debt is denominated in it and their revenue has fallen off a cliff. But only the Fed can create the currency out of thin air. As such, it seems possible, Joe says, that the pandemic could mark the very early beginning of the end of the U.S. dollar’s singular global role.

What you’ll need to know tomorrow

What you’ll want to read tonight in Bloomberg Green

Going Green When a CIO is a Climate Skeptic

Multibillion-dollar asset manager Harris Associates has touted its ESG bonafides. But it has a deputy chairman and chief investment officer, David Herro, who has publicly questioned global warming while raising or donating at least $740,000 to groups that lobby against climate regulations. One of Harris’s clients, a major U.K. pension fund, was not amused. Now, Harris has agreed to a series of proposals to increase transparency and invest client money in a climate conscious fashion.

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