What happens when a once-in-a-century pandemic hits an economy “saddled with record levels of debt”? In 2008 the problem was household and banking debt. Today it is corporations, says Ruchir Sharma in The New York Times.
At roughly $16trn, US corporate debt is worth 75% of GDP, with the vehicle, hospitality and transport sectors looking especially vulnerable. One in six US firms do not generate enough cash flow to cover debt interest payments, says Sharma. They avoid bankruptcy only so long as they can secure cheap refinancing. Such zombies are “the natural spawn of a long period of record low interest rates”. Investors reaching for yield have been forced to put their money into bonds backed by ever riskier ventures.
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