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Just because the World Health Organization officially named the disease caused by the novel coronavirus COVID-19, that doesn't mean it's not going to be referred to as the Wuhan virus, the Chinese coronavirus, or other names that stamp the origin of the virus into the public lexicon.
One reason for what some observers see as politically incorrect name-calling is, in fact, pure politics.
The President of the United States, some members of his administration, and other politicians are stamping "Made in China" all over the virus because identifying China as the virus's place of origin stigmatizes China geopolitically, with the intention of undermining China's increasing global influence.
Another reason the world's going to be hearing more about the Wuhan or Chinese virus is that lawsuits are being filed blaming China for accidental or deliberate gross economic destruction.
A $20 trillion class-action suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas alleges the virus that causes COVID-19 is a biological weapon designed by China, and that by releasing it, China violated U.S. law, international laws, treaties, and norms and caused massive economic damage to U.S. individuals and businesses.
Here's why in politics and law, sometimes names matter…
About the Author
Shah Gilani boasts a financial pedigree unlike any other. He ran his first hedge fund in 1982 from his seat on the floor of the Chicago Board of Options Exchange. When options on the Standard & Poor's 100 began trading on March 11, 1983, Shah worked in "the pit" as a market maker.
The work he did laid the foundation for what would later become the VIX - to this day one of the most widely used indicators worldwide. After leaving Chicago to run the futures and options division of the British banking giant Lloyd's TSB, Shah moved up to Roosevelt & Cross Inc., an old-line New York boutique firm. There he originated and ran a packaged fixed-income trading desk, and established that company's "listed" and OTC trading desks.
Shah founded a second hedge fund in 1999, which he ran until 2003.
Shah's vast network of contacts includes the biggest players on Wall Street and in international finance. These contacts give him the real story - when others only get what the investment banks want them to see.
Today, as editor of Hyperdrive Portfolio, Shah presents his legion of subscribers with massive profit opportunities that result from paradigm shifts in the way we work, play, and live.
Shah is a frequent guest on CNBC, Forbes, and MarketWatch, and you can catch him every week on Fox Business's Varney & Co.