This is a summary of the book titled “Crash Landing” written by Liz Hoffman and published by Crown in 2023. When the pandemic hit, the 2008 recession was dwarfed. Leaders had to act fast. Billions of dollars changed hands. Some companies made money while others barely endured. Hoffman provided intimate portraits of leaders who navigated these times as the inside story of how some companies survived an economy on the brink. Many were blindsided by the pandemic such as the America’s airline industry. By the time they could grapple with the reality, the crisis was a major one. When money stopped flowing, companies borrowed. The US Government threw in its vast financial firepower at the crisis but the economy that survived was no longer the original before the pandemic.

In late January 2020, the financial elite at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, were unaware of the potential impact of COVID-19 on the global economy. The US economy had experienced 10 consecutive years of growth and had a record high in 2019 corporate profits. However, the American economy was particularly vulnerable to a health crisis due to stagnant wages, reduced workers' benefits, and lack of surplus funds. The virus was already affecting Taiwan and Japan, and it would soon appear in Europe and North America. The airline industry, which had enjoyed a champagne decade, was also vulnerable to the virus. In 2020, the globalized world was not interconnected by land or sea, but by air. Direct flights reached twice as many cities as they had 20 years earlier. A 35-year-old man returning from China in mid-January became America's first reported case of COVID-19, unaware of the potentially deadly virus.

In March 2020, the world faced a major crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. American executives and Wall Street bankers were not taking the situation seriously, as businesses in other countries did. The virus spreads through the air and resembles an ordinary flu, leading to widespread social distancing. Despite rigorous lockdowns, COVID-19 quickly crossed out of China, leading to the closure of Disney's Shanghai Park, McDonald's, Starbucks, Delta, and Hilton's hotels in China. The world's greatest economy shut down, and Wall Street's financial markets experienced panic. Bill Ackman, founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, believed the virus might be difficult to control in the US, leading to massive unemployment and civil unrest. Investors began feeling spooked, and stock values fell. The Federal Reserve intervened with an interest rate cut, but the markets remained open. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization announced that COVID-19 had reached the level of a global pandemic, leading to stock declines, sports leagues ending, and Disney parks closing.

The COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted the travel industry, leading to a significant drop in revenue per available room, a crucial financial metric in the hotel industry. Hilton, a major hotel chain, had barely survived the 2008 financial collapse and was unable to survive the 2020 crisis. The pandemic exposed the dangers of a financial playbook that had become the default in corporate boardrooms over the previous two decades. Hilton's leaders called in its $1.75 billion line of credit to borrow money and worry that banks themselves could go under. The 2020 financial meltdown differed from the 2008 crisis, as it was not as severe as the 2008 crisis. Wall Street traders were uneasy and the sudden need to work from home worsened volatility. Bank reforms in 2020 limited Wall Street's activities and freedoms, leading to a decline in productivity and a dramatic fall in the S&P 500.

The US government and airline executives faced financial challenges during the COVID economic crisis, aiming to avoid bankruptcy and a complete meltdown. After negotiations, Congress pursued a multibillion-dollar payroll relief package, leading to major hedge funds selling bonds and Airbnb spending billions on COVID refunds. The number of Americans with COVID increased exponentially, and banks borrowed billions. The economy that survived the pandemic is not the one that crashed headlong into it, but it did not fall into depression. The pandemic created value, such as improved telecommunications infrastructure and higher pay for essential workers. However, inflation and interest rates rose, making life difficult for ordinary people. While the pandemic wasn't a total disaster, it required a careful balance between swift action and making the right choices.

#codingexercise: https://1drv.ms/w/c/d609fb70e39b65c8/Echlm-Nw-wkggNYlIwEAAAABD8nSsN--hM7kfA-W_mzuWw?e=BQczmz