Personal Finance

• (Knowledge@Wharton) takes a closer look at financial distress and geographic differences.

• Recognizing the role of Financial Literacy in this pandemic and the subsequent recovery. (CNBC Opinion)

Economics

• Another 5.245 million Americans file for unemployment benefits as reported this week. That brings the total to over 22 million in the last four weeks, wiping out the last decade of job growth post the Great Recession. (Yahoo Finance)

• Only 29 states are currently paying the extra $600 in unemployment benefits as many states struggle to adjust ancient computer systems. (CNN)
• Have questions about the stimulus checks? USA Today answers readers’ questions.  Did you get your check yet? There have been numerous glitches. (WaPo)
• If you have time for a longer read, this New York Magazine article is digs deep into how the Fed was prepared for this crisis.
• If you are interested, there is a 10 minute interview with former Philly Fed President Charles Plosser on the Fed's response to the crisis. (CNBC)

Pandemic Winners:

• Houseparty moves from the kids’ rooms to the family rooms, driving 17 million downloads of the video chat app (with games!) in March. (This is now what our family uses!) (WSJ – subscription)
• Quibi had 1.7 million downloads in its first week (CNBC), but with everyone still staying close to home, will a mobile content app succeed? Quibi has already decided to allow people to watch their content on TV after complaints. (Bloomberg)
• Proctor and Gamble saw a 10% sales increase in its most recent quarter. Must be all that toilet paper hoarding! (CNBC)
• Amazon continues to tackle employee safety issues and price-gouging suppliers, but its stock hit a record high this week. (The Street)
• Netflix shares hit a 52- week high. (CNBC)
• How many of the companies on this list would you have selected as potential winners for the “stay-at-home” economy? (Investor Place)

Pandemic Losers

• Retail sales are the obvious losers. A wider debate, should retailers who are reorganizing under bankruptcy protection be given any relief? (USA Today)
• Not sure if this belongs in winner (mortgage holders) or loser column (mortgage servicers).  Nearly three million borrowers have applied for relief from their federal government-backed mortgages under the new (CARES) forbearance program. (CNBC)
• This Visual Capitalist infographic from three weeks ago paints an accurate picture of the spread if hurt.
• The Small Business Administration has already run out of money for the loan relief program. (MarketWatch)

Post-Pandemic Life

• Here is an interesting projection of how the business world will be very different. The follow-on implications of new workplace norms are tremendous! (Vox)

K-12 Education

• Are your kids showing up to your online instruction? The statistics are dismal, with some distinct geographic trends. (Education Dive)

Higher Ed

• Will for-profit universities rear their ugly heads again as they did during the Great Recession (Inside Higher Ed 1)
• How will the move to pass/fail for many colleges and universities this semester impact the students’ future success in getting into grad school, or transferring from community to four-year colleges? (Inside Higher Ed2)
• Colleges and Universities are really struggling to fill next year’s entering class, and wondering if other students will return. (NY Times-subscription)

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