Phew! The G7 rides to the markets’ rescue

G7 finance ministers are to discuss the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on the world’s markets and economy. John Stepek looks at what – if anything – they can actually do.

G7 finance ministers, including Rishi Sunak, will debate the options. © Getty
(Image credit: WIktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto)

The cavalry are coming. The global pandemic is going to be sorted out by a motley crew of central bankers and finance ministers. At noon today, it’s the G7 to the rescue.

Markets rebounded strongly yesterday. It’s not because coronavirus is cured, obviously. It’s because markets had fallen hard all last week and they tend to have a bounce when that happens.

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John Stepek

John Stepek is a senior reporter at Bloomberg News and a former editor of MoneyWeek magazine. He graduated from Strathclyde University with a degree in psychology in 1996 and has always been fascinated by the gap between the way the market works in theory and the way it works in practice, and by how our deep-rooted instincts work against our best interests as investors.

He started out in journalism by writing articles about the specific business challenges facing family firms. In 2003, he took a job on the finance desk of Teletext, where he spent two years covering the markets and breaking financial news.

His work has been published in Families in Business, Shares magazine, Spear's Magazine, The Sunday Times, and The Spectator among others. He has also appeared as an expert commentator on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, BBC Radio Scotland, Newsnight, Daily Politics and Bloomberg. His first book, on contrarian investing, The Sceptical Investor, was released in March 2019. You can follow John on Twitter at @john_stepek.