Oil prices are plummeting, and for Middle Eastern nations that rely on oil revenues to support their economies, this is very bad news. Iraq’s 2020 budget assumes that oil’s average price for the year will be $56 (U.S. dollars) per barrel (The Spectator, April 4, 2020), yet oil has dropped to less than $20 per barrel (as of this writing) and continues to show weakness.

What strange and interesting times we’re living in. Many may even call them scary. I recently read that over 50 percent of the earth’s population is quarantined due to the coronavirus pandemic. Although “quarantine” means different things in different nations, the ultimate result is that we are spending more time by ourselves and spending less time with and around other people. And when we are around others, “social distancing” (remaining nearly two meters/six feet away) and wearing masks can make us feel even more isolated.

“Whatever it takes” is the now-famous comment of Mario Draghi when he was the European Central Bank chairman. He was addressing the European debt crisis of 2012—and his sentiment is now shared by many world leaders and national governments as they attempt to deal with the economic consequences of the coronavirus shutdown of national economies (The Economist, March 19, 2020).

“The European Experiment”—a description applied to the European Union by many—is in serious trouble. Old divides that have plagued the continent for centuries are reemerging. A couple of weeks ago, EU leaders met to come up with a unified financial response to the COVID-19 pandemic but struggled to agree (Reuters, March 27, 2020).

“The new normal” is an idiom expressing that a significant change has occurred and become commonplace. For example, in the last few decades, it has become commonplace for us to use personal computers and cell phones to now do much of our shopping online. That is a new normal. Many new “normals” are emerging, but are all of them good?