Italy is a model for our near future, and it suggests that things may be grim 1/ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/opinion/italy-coronavirus-naples.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/0...

It& #39;s notable that the economic hardship is worst in the south, which was late to the infection but poor to begin with. Campania has less than half Lombardy& #39;s GDP per capita 2/ https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/6839731/1-21052015-AP-EN.pdf/c3f5f43b-397c-40fd-a0a4-7e68e3bea8cd">https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/...

The parallels with the U.S. south are obvious. Mississippi has less than half the per capita GDP of New York 3/ https://apps.bea.gov/itable/iTable.cfm?ReqID=70&step=1">https://apps.bea.gov/itable/iT...

And the social safety net is much worse in the U.S. south than in Italy. This could be terrible 4/ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/opinion/coronavirus-Tennessee-southern-states.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/0...