The future is, but the present that has not yet happened

Editorial This week, markets reacted positively to the election of Joe Biden as president of the United States and the announcement of the efficacy rate of Pfizer-BioNTech’s candidate vaccine. However, on the health crisis front, the figures for the number of infections, hospitalisations and deaths in Europe and the North-Eastern United States remain extremely dramatic. On the macroeconomic front, after a brisk third quarter, the latest data relating to September/October show an incipient slowdown in activity while the first surveys for November are turning around. Q4 will be more difficult than expected.