Please stop using the word "recession". It is needless fearmongering without any facts.

A recession is defined by two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. We haven't seen even a single quarter of negative growth and some chicken littles are screaming the "D" word.

Seriously... This is not a financial crisis. It is a health crisis with serious financial implications. However, if a cure were found tomorrow, we'd see a rise in the markets unlike anything since the Roaring Twenties. It should also be mentioned that this is nothing like 2008. In 2008, the entire worldwide financial system ground to a halt because not a single financial institution would accept asset-backed commercial debt (ABCP) as collateral out of fear it could contain worthless sub-prime mortgages. As a result, many companies that use ABCP as collateral to continue operations could not find money to run their businesses. They went under and did not return. This is why the slow climb out of the 2008 disaster was known as the "jobless recovery."

Today, we see a shutdown of commerce while people stay home as governments try to contain the virus. However, said governments are taking measures to ensure companies do not become insolvent while they wait for either a cure or the outbreak to go into seasonal remission.

As such, this is not 2008 nor is it anything like 2008. The fundamentals affecting the financial markets are completely different. For the IMF to claim otherwise is patently ridiculous.