The coronavirus pandemic is ravaging Italy with tremendous force. In addition to bringing negative and irreparable effects to the population, the italian economy it can also take a big hit.

Although death rates are expected to rise in countries where the outbreak started later, the number of deaths in Italy soared above 1,000 this week. Much higher than in Europe.

Older people are among the most vulnerable to the virus. Italy has the oldest population in Europe. Around 23% of Italians are 65 years of age or older. In an effort to conquer the virus, the Italian government has imposed drastic quarantine measures.

Like all museums, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence is closed. No one is throwing coins into the Trevi Fountain in Rome. From inside the Vatican, Pope Francis broadcast his regular Wednesday mass live. Instead of greeting pilgrims in St. Peter's Square.

The Italian economy in the face of covid-19

Apart from the threat to human life, Italy may be more exposed than other countries to the severe economic consequences of the pandemic. The potential repercussions for the euro area, and the EU as a whole, cannot be overstated.

The pandemic is already a test of Europe's unity and political will, and it could get much worse. Without determined and coordinated action by all EU governments and institutions, the survival of the EU economy may be in jeopardy for the second time in a decade.

The roots of these weaknesses run deeper. During the 20 years of the euro's existence, Italy has registered almost zero economic growth. Low labor productivity, an inadequate education system, an ineffective judicial system, corruption, and organized crime are problems with a long history.

Since the end of the 20th century, Italy's public debt has been worryingly high. But, before the 2010 crisis, it amounted to just over 100% of the gross domestic product. Now it is close to 135% of GDP.

Emergency measures

From a public health point of view, Italy's emergency measures are essential. But, they carry risks for the multitude of small, family-owned businesses that rely on daily customer contact and drying-up cash transactions.

Giuseppe Conte, Italy's prime minister, said the government was setting aside 25 billion euros. Or around 1.4% of GDP, to protect the economy against these threats.

However, leading economists such as Lorenzo Codogno, a former director general of Italy's Treasury, and Ashoka Mody, a professor at Princeton University, doubt that this is enough.

They think the risks of the pandemic are so high that the Italian economy, the third-largest in the eurozone, should ask the eurozone bailout fund and perhaps the IMF for immediate financial help.

Read More: Economy is growing but more jobs are needed

A good credit score It's not just something to brag about; can help you secure a favorable interest rate when you apply for a mortgage, a car loan or a new credit card.

There are many ways to improve your credit score, including paying your bills on time and contracting multiple lines of credit. If you're working to improve your score, the most efficient course of action may be to use one or more credit cards responsibly. One or two cards can help you achieve multiple goals and gradually improve your credit score.

Using credit cards to improve your credit score
Here are five ways using a credit card can positively impact the things that determine your credit score, from payment history to the length of your credit history.

1. Make your monthly credit card payments on time
Paying all your bills when they are due, including your credit card bill, is the easiest way to increase your credit score. This task falls under the “payment history” category, which represents the 35% of your credit score.

2. Keep a small balance to lower your credit utilization ratio
The credit utilization ratio is the relationship between the amount of credit you can use and the amount of credit you are using. It is the balance you have on your credit cards in relation to your credit spending limit on all credit card accounts you have open.

3. Increase your spending limit to lower your credit utilization ratio
How do you increase the usage limit? You should be able to call the credit card company's customer service number to request the change. When I made this call, it took less than 10 minutes. You can't guarantee they'll say yes, but you won't be penalized for asking.

Read More: Learn how it works and how to increase your credit score

If you think raising your spending limit will tempt you to overspend, you should refrain from raising the limit. This will not only cause you to accumulate debt, but your credit score it could also go down if you can't afford to make payments to keep your balance down.

4. Keep the same card open for a long time
This strategy falls under "length of credit history," which makes up 15% of your score. If you're tired of paying off your credit card, you may be tempted to cancel the card entirely. This might be the right move for you, but if your end goal is to build credit, you may want to reconsider.

5. Negotiate a lower APR on your card
If you find yourself in a situation where you can't pay your card balance in full each month, your balance accrues interest – unless you have an introductory APR offer. If your card's annual percentage rate (APR) goes down, you'll pay less interest. This could make it easier for you to pay off your card and/or make payments on time, thus improving your credit score.

A global recession driven by a pandemic, as the flow of goods, services and people faces increasing restrictions.

Just a day ago, President Donald Trump halted travel to the United States from Europe, Italy's government ordered nearly all shops closed, and India suspended most visas. Twitter Inc. joined the barrage of companies telling their employees to work at home and the National Basketball Association suspended its season.

While those announcements are aimed at containing the coronavirus, every quarantined city, canceled flight, scrapped sporting event and frustrated conference will hammer demand around the world this quarter and probably longer. The initial rush by consumers to stock up on supplies can be followed by months of prudent restraint against the pandemic.

"The resulting pandemic of fear continues to spread and is set to cause a global recession," Ed Yardeni, president and founder of Yardeni Research Inc., wrote in a research note.

Hopes of only a few weeks ago that the world economy would follow a V-shaped trajectory: a sharp drop in growth in the first quarter followed by a rebound in the second have been dashed. Now the biggest economic shock since the 2008 financial crisis is raising the risk of a global recession, and the debate is shifting to the length and depth of the downturn.

Stocks and bond yields continued to slide on Thursday, and the MSCI World Stock Index is now on the brink of a bear market.

China is already on track for what could be its first quarterly contraction in decades. In the US, a Bloomberg economic model suggests a 53% chance that the 11-year expansion will end within a year. The economies of Japan, Germany, France and Italy were already contracting or stagnating before the virus outbreak, and the UK is reeling amid Brexit uncertainty.

Read More: Coronavirus may bankrupt some Chinese businesses

As the virus spreads, the threat grows of a phenomenon economists call a feedback loop, a vicious cycle in which a country that begins to recover at home later suffers from a decline in demand abroad as other nations succumb, prolonging the recession.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. counterparties told clients this week that the risk of a global recession "has increased materially." To rekindle their confidence, they said they need to see the virus fade, a stronger and more creative response from economic policymakers, and businesses and banks not slash jobs or slash lending. They also argued that falling oil costs will not necessarily boost growth as much as they have historically because consumers will pocket the windfall from cheaper fuel prices.

Policymakers are already struggling to keep up, raising concerns that the fall in demand will not be sufficiently cushioned by the stimulus and reflecting on the pandemic. 

Ironically, lower interest rates, coupled with easy access to personal loans, have caused the value of unsecured personal credit to rise to as much as 22.5% over the last five years, which will reduce the affordability of ownership for many. In 2018, the affordability it leveled off after five years of declines, but is still much worse than pre-recession levels some 20 years ago.

Of course in this, as in many other things, the UK is a bit of a quilt. The affordability The price of housing ranges from the lowest in Copeland, in the North West of England, where it is 2.5 times the average income in the workplace, to Kensington and Chelsea in London, where the average price of housing is 45 times greater.

These figures concern me in the same way that climate change worries Mrs Long-Bailey. While it seems reassuring to believe that we are past the housing price recession, the numbers underscore the huge impact that the pre-recession housing boom of the mid-to-late 2000s had on the housing market and the long shadow it continues to cast across the country.

Strict

The affordability It's still a problem for many because banks and building societies burned their fingers so badly on property "bad debt" that they now apply much stricter lending criteria, which has limited home lending, although this has improved the stability of the housing market.

However, while it has become more difficult to obtain a mortgage, the substantial increase in unsecured personal loans points to a growing demand for funds that could limit future home loans. And while the data doesn't separate homeowner and renter loans, it should be safe to assume that much of these unsecured loans are being used by owner-occupiers.

The demand for housing will continue to grow as the population increases, and in this scenario there are only two ways to improve the affordability: increase the supply of inventory or ensure that income increases at a faster rate than house prices. The latter is extremely unlikely, which means that a higher supply is essential.

Read More: Economy is growing but more jobs are needed
Therefore, a coordinated approach to building more affordable housing and increasing the number of affordable housing in general, with increased financial and regulatory stimulus for housing construction, would help alleviate overall demand in the sector and produce steady growth. , more than exceptional, which is the true mark of success in the real estate market.

The key to that success lies in maintaining a market that remains vibrant and dynamic without becoming a runaway “winner-take-all” scenario. Only a few speculators want to boom and bust again, but there must be incentives that allow the emerging generation to consider home ownership as an achievable goal.

Stability balancing has been managed quite effectively since 2008 and I wouldn't want to upset that apple cart. However, a slight relaxation of mortgage lending criteria (i.e. deposits and income loan requirements) could open the door for more homeownership hopefuls without a return to the recklessness that blocked the market in the early years of this century.