The outbreak of the coronavirus has "spooked" the global economy and hurt the Chinese "substantially," according to economist Stephen Moore.
"We're all concerned about this virus," Moore told "The Cats Roundtable" on 970 AM-N.Y., per The Hill. "It has already hurt the Chinese economy very substantially. Let's hope and pray this virus is contained.
"People are spooked by it right now. And investors are spooked. And it certainly has hurt global commerce over the last week or two."
The suspension of flights to China and fear in financial markets caused steep losses at the end of the week, one of the year's biggest weeks as holiday season earnings were being reported by some of the world's biggest companies, including Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook.
Also, this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell predicted some "disruption" to markets, according to the report.
"There is likely to be some disruption to activity in China and possibly globally based on the spread of the virus [Wednesday] and the travel restrictions and business closures that have already been imposed," Powell said, per The Hill.
"There will clearly be implications, at least in the near term, for Chinese output, and I guess for some of their closest neighbors, and we'll just have to see what the effect is globally."
The World Health Organization designed the coronavirus a global health emergency this week.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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