As the coronavirus spreads fear, sickness, and death, a specter haunts investors – the specter of deflation.

Despite central bankers’ attempts to push inflation rates higher, equity and commodity markets are collapsing. Inflation expectations as reflected in tanking U.S. Treasury yields, meanwhile, appear headed toward zero – and perhaps even below.

“I think that we have a real danger of deflation in the economy right now,” former Trump economic advisor Stephen Moore told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo last weekend.

Clearly, symptoms of deflation and leading indicators of economic contraction are now manifesting in dramatic ways:

• Wall Street is being hit with the most severe selling wave since 2008.
• Junk bonds are also selling off hard as investors fear a wave of corporate defaults to come.
• Crude oil has suffered its worst plunge in decades.
• Economic growth in Asian and Eur ... Read more »