We explain in a nontechnical fashion why dollar-neutral quant trading strategies (e.g. statistical arbitrage) suffered substantial losses (drawdowns) during the COVID-19 market sell-off. We discuss: (i) why such strategies work during “normal” times; (ii) the market regimes when they work best; and (iii) their limitations and why they “break” during extreme market events. An accompanying appendix (with a link to freely accessible source code) includes back-tests for various strategies, which put flesh on and illustrate the discussion in the main text.

We discuss the advantages of adopting government-issued digital currencies and a supranational digital iCurrency. This will get rid of paper money, a ubiquitous medium for spreading germs, as highlighted by the recent coronavirus outbreak. We set forth three policy recommendations for adapting mobile devices as new digital wallets, regulatory oversight of sovereign digital currencies, and a supranational digital iCurrency. We also argue that the USA should reevaluate its “exorbitant privilege and exorbitant duty” in light of the financial meltdown from the coronavirus outbreak.

We discuss the idea of a purely algorithmic universal world iCurrency in light of recent developments, including Libra. We analyze the Libra proposal, including the stability and volatility aspects, and discuss various issues to be addressed. For example, one cannot expect a cryptocurrency such as Libra to trade in a narrow band without a robust monetary policy. A technical appendix (available online) provides a detailed mathematical description of the (crypto) FX rate dynamics in target zones.

We discuss the advantages of adopting government-issued digital currencies and a supranational digital iCurrency. This will get rid of paper money, a ubiquitous medium for spreading germs, as highlighted by the recent coronavirus outbreak. We set forth three policy recommendations for adapting mobile devices as new digital wallets, regulatory oversight of sovereign digital currencies, and a supranational digital iCurrency. We also argue that the USA should reevaluate its “exorbitant privilege and exorbitant duty” in light of the financial meltdown from the coronavirus outbreak.