Virus Takes Toll on Younger Minorities
This week, we talk about how the pandemic is disproportionately killing younger people of color.
Welcome to our weekly chat about the environmental and social issues that influence the way we work, spend our money and live our lives. We're your hosts, Maitane Sardon and Dieter Holger. Want to get our newsletter every Wednesday? Hit the subscribe button in the upper right corner and please share with your friends!
Hi, Maitane. We often hear that the new coronavirus isn’t so deadly for younger people. But statistics now show that younger people of color in the U.S. are more likely to die from the virus than whites. A Wall Street Journal analysis finds that just 3% of white people who die from Covid-19 are under age 55, compared with 8% of Asians, 11% of Black people, 18% of Latinos and 24% of American Indians.
It is a troubling trend. Health experts are still looking into why this is happening. Some theories are that people of color are more likely to work in low-wage jobs outside the home with more exposure to the virus, take public transport more and live in more cramped multi-generational households. These circumstances could increase exposure to the virus.
The virus has also risked widening the financial gap between Black and white workers. You can see this on display in Buffalo, New York, where Black workers lost more stable manufacturing jobs as the sector dried up and jobs went overseas over the last half-century, according to researchers and census data. That helped set up Black communities to be hit much harder by the economic devastation from government efforts to curb the virus than white people, a trend that has played out across the country.
Have you seen any other effects of the virus on finance, Maitane?
Currencies in developing nations are having a bad year even with the plunge in the U.S. dollar’s value. So far in 2020, the Brazilian real, the South African rand and the Turkish lira have lost about 20% of their value against the buck. The Russian ruble and the Mexican peso are also well below where they started in 2020. In many developing countries, the coronavirus pandemic has worsened existing problems like underfunded health systems and strained government finances. Wary of these issues, investors pulled billions from stock and bond markets in March and April, helping depreciate these currencies.
What am I looking at? The chart above shows the performance of the currencies from Russia, South Africa and Brazil against the U.S. dollar this year. These economies are usually called emerging-market economies because they are engaged in global markets but they aren’t as developed as richer nations. Changes in the value of the dollar usually affect the performance of emerging-market currencies.
It seems impossible to find any part of finance the virus hasn’t touched. Something else I’m watching is the legal fight between Apple, Google and Epic Games, the makers of the wildly successful Fortnite survivor shooter video game. Apple and Google both accuse Fortnite of violating their rules on payments. Last week, they took Fortnite off their app stores because the game added an in-app payment system to get around the 30% commission the tech giants take on purchases. Things heated up this week when Epic Games said in court that Apple plans to shut Fornite out of its developer software, blocking it from making apps for all Apple devices, even Mac computers. What happens with Fortnite could be a big deal for the $120 billion app market since developers like Epic Games could end up with more control over how they make money.
Sounds like it might be one of the biggest showdowns in tech. Now let’s open it up to our readers: What do you think should be done to lower the Covid-19 death rate among people of color?
Share your thoughts below, email us or catch us on Twitter. Your words could appear in our next edition! Have a great week and remember to wash your hands. 👋
Meet the team:
Elevate the Conversation is produced by the editorial teams of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. Here's a little bit more about us, along with our contact information. We'd love to hear from you.
Dieter Holger, Reporter: I have a knack for uncovering values-based investing trends and I’m obsessed with spreadsheets and charts. I really enjoy ‘80s music, skateboarding and yoga (but I’m bad at both). dieter.holger@wsj.com @dieterholger
Maitane Sardon, Reporter: I have a passion for amplifying the voices of those at the center of stories. I love running on Barcelona’s beaches and binging on chocolate ice-cream to compensate (it’s all about balance). maitane.sardon@wsj.com @sardomaitane
Catherine Lindsay, Editor: I like breaking down complex ideas and explaining them. On the weekend, you’ll find me wandering the city with my film camera at the ready. catherine.lindsay@wsj.com @CathsLindsay
Tammy Lian, Designer: As a visual producer, I'm always excited by the challenge of creative problem solving. In my spare time, you can usually find me taking care of my ever-growing collection of plants and drinking tea. tammy.lian@wsj.com @violian.tammy