Markets Lag Epidemiology, React to Policy

When a public‑health crisis unfolds, financial markets may delay large moves and instead pivot around major policy interventions (for example, central‑bank backstops), not the progression of the disease itself. That means market bottoms or rallies can reflect policy credibility and liquidity provision more than underlying public‑health improvement. — This reframes how journalists, politicians, and the public should read market movements during crises: market calm can mean effective policy, not that the crisis has abated.