by Jeffrey Tucker, Daily Reckoning:

On March 6, 2020, the mayor of Austin, Texas, canceled the biggest tech and arts trade show in the world, South by Southwest, only a week before hundreds of thousands were to gather in the city.

In an instant, with the stroke of a pen, it was all gone: hotel reservations, flight plans, performances, exhibitors and all the hopes and dreams of thousands of merchants in the town. Economic impact: a loss of $335 million in revenue at least. And that was just to the city alone, to say nothing of the broader impact.