The king is naked and sick.

Warren Buffett has a very good quote about crises. 

He said: only when the tide is low can you see who has been swimming naked.

In fact, when the tide is high, when everything seems to be going well, it's impossible to accurately gauge the degree of risk exposure faced by companies, governments, and banks.

However, when the tide goes out, when the crisis begins, the weaknesses and fictions that kept certain swimmers afloat become evident.

This is what is happening with the crisis precipitated by the coronavirus pandemic.

The coronavirus is bursting the speculative bubbles generated by the "financialization" of capital and the growing inequality linked to the neoliberal model.

The coronavirus is exposing the ills created by the virus of neoliberalism and austerity policies.

Economic orthodoxy is being cruelly exposed in its ineptitude to stabilize capitalism, promote growth, and provide well-being for the entire population.

The most optimistic are now saying that there will be a global recession in the first half of the year, with a likely recovery in the second half.

China already experienced negative growth in February, its first negative result since the early 70s.

The same inexorable trend of economic contraction is expected to occur in Europe, Japan, South Korea, and the US, dragging the global economy down with it.

The most pessimistic, or realistic, say, however, that the crisis, which will begin by affecting companies, will eventually extend to the financial system and banks as well, given the high level of indebtedness of those companies.

The contraction in production and the consequent financial strain on companies would expose the high degree of risk faced by banks.

If this happens, we could have a crisis similar to the one in 2008. 

A longer-term systemic crisis. Everything will depend on how many swimmers were naked.

Whether they do or not, most countries are announcing fiscal measures to stimulate the economy.

Japan, already in recession, is announcing a $4 billion stimulus package.

According to Trump, the US will announce a package of "extraordinary measures," which include tax breaks on payroll and easier loans for workers and small businesses.

Italy, the hardest-hit country in Europe, will receive a package of around 10 billion euros and will possibly freeze debt payments, including mortgage payments.

Even Portugal, which was relatively unaffected by the crisis, announced an initial package of 200 million euros to support the sectors most affected: tourism, textiles, and footwear.

What about Brazil?

Nothing, absolutely nothing. It's as if nothing is happening here. The country has been in crisis for 5 years, there's been widespread capital flight, which began last year, well before the coronavirus, but, according to our Pinochet Boy, everything is under control.

He and his glorious team of failures are very calm. They say they just need to insist on counterproductive neoliberal reforms and everything will work itself out. The fairy godmother of confidence will eventually appear to save us.

Unbelievable, Brazil has no proposals or plans to confront this new and serious global crisis.

At a time when everyone is talking about fiscal stimulus, the discussion revolves around austerity measures for public sector employees and further cuts to state investments.

In this sense, the Bolsonaro government is naked.

With the tide of the crisis receding, it clearly shows that he is lost and that there is a huge vacuum of ideas.

The only thing it has to offer is the same old neoliberal rhetoric that is fueling the global crisis, only precipitated by the coronavirus.

In Brazil, the biggest problem comes from within. It's the incompetent and irresponsible government that contaminates the entire country.

But the government not only lacks proposals for this very serious crisis, it is exacerbating it, perhaps intentionally.

Indeed, in the midst of the worst economic crisis since 2008, Bolsonaro is dedicated to betting on an institutional crisis, rallying his supporters against Congress and the Supreme Court and spreading fake news, such as the claim that he won the election in the first round.

During his many leisure moments, he colors Romero Britto's paintings under the dark sky of the looming global recession.

Bolsonaro knows his government is a complete failure and is now betting on the worsening crisis to close down the regime and impose himself in a Bonapartist manner, taking advantage of the apathy and fear of the attacked democratic institutions.

As always, he'll blame his monumental failure on Congress, the Supreme Court, the press, the Workers' Party, Drauzio Varella, cultural Marxism, and the penis-shaped baby bottle.

In that other sense, Bolsonaro is also naked.

With Trump's help, he wants to impose his authoritarian, militia-based, and militarized regime. 

It definitively reveals what it always was: a demented fascist.

The king is not only naked, but also majestically incompetent. 

He is also sick, in his evident contempt for democracy and its institutions.

The high tide of anti-PT sentiment and coup-mongering obscured this naked swimmer and his coronavirus of incompetence, irresponsibility, and authoritarianism.

Now, the low tide of the crisis reveals him in all his splendor of mediocrity and insanity.

All that's missing is that brave boy to point in his direction and say, out loud, what everyone sees. Or needs to see.