[skokage]

>Maybe supply chains become a bit more distributed, or less centralized.

This is one of the things that I've been wondering about the last few days. I recently read an article discussing how because China is essentially shut down, the supply chain has been disrupted for manufacturers in other countries. So much of manufacturing in other areas of the world depends on components made in china, and when those stop other manufacturers also stop. People get laid off, and it becomes a cascading problem affecting everyone.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/04/business/hyundai-south-ko...

[remarkEon]

Smart countries should be using this as a trial run for "what happens during WWIII?", and determining where the critical gaps exist.

[Reelin]

Not just WWIII - what happens when (not if) a large solar flare [1] hits us or if Yellowstone [2] ends up erupting?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_Caldera

[magicsmoke]

I wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese military is using this outbreak as a natural experiment for planning responses to a biological attack if WW3 breaks out. Figure out how well the state can quarantine large parts of the country while ensuring industrial and warfighting supplies can still get through.

[blackrock]

I think there is a site called r/conspiracy for this.

The interesting question is: who would launch a biological attack on them? And will this trigger a nuclear response?

[01100011]

Without a doubt, this is going to slow global growth for the next year or so. One of the world's major economies is in hibernation right now. I also think there's a fair amount of distraction going on across the globe that is also silently draining some productivity. Whether this triggers a recession remains to be seen, however.

[crispinb]

A potential silver lining then.