With the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, unavoidable actions to save lives had to be taken. Countries across the globe went into lockdown with businesses shutting down and many eventually faced foreclosure. While it was necessary to save lives, the long period of restrictions due to the pandemic had an inevitable impact on the economy in the US and around the globe. We asked experts to weight-in on how all this affected the economy.
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“It is no surprise that many businesses have faced major hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many have had to lay off staff or even shut down, and those that are staying afloat are not getting the custom they need to thrive again because many have lost a source of income. One surprise, however, maybe the fact that a lot of smaller businesses and entrepreneurs are thriving. Either due to temporary restrictions in travel or the increase in hiring remote workers, many are benefitting as a result, and it is unlikely to change after we return to some form of normal.”
Ethan Taub, CEO Loanry
“In my opinion Although it is impossible to predict precisely how much economic harm will be caused by the global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, I believe that it will have a significant negative effect on the global economy. Prior to assessing the effect of COVID-19 on higher education, it is important to consider the virus's impact on the financial stability of countries worldwide. Numerous countries' economies have been shattered by the pandemic and the economic hardships would have an impact on families' ability to fund their children's future higher education choices. Consumer spending, including higher education, will continue to fall in the post-COVID-19 world as a result of economic contractions. Families facing a bleak economic future would be hesitant to enroll their children in expensive colleges. Students in colleges and universities will continue to oppose online-only education. According to my knowledge countries cannot continue to play for the sake of the economy at the moment. For institutions of higher education, I assume the same is valid. Executives at colleges and universities cannot continue to play for the schools of the future. They must imagine how their schools would look once the virus has ceased to control faculty, student, and administrator activities. Chief executives must be able to lead with creativity and ingenuity, not just on the margins. They must be able to abandon obsolete business models and embrace partnership in place of competition. Economic stagnation caused by the pandemic, as well as the detrimental effect on higher education caused by an economic downturn, would not stop until a vaccine is discovered and distributed. Both the global economy and higher education can take years to recover from COVID-19.”
Chris Taylor, Marketing Director at Profit Guru
“We anticipate financial markets to remain unstable as the virus spreads and disrupts economic activity, particularly in wealthy nations. It's still unclear if this crisis will have long-term structural repercussions for the global economy or will have only short-term financial and economic implications. In any event, infectious illnesses like COVID-19 have the potential to wreak havoc on the regional and global economy. Because of the high level of transportation connections, globalization, and economic interdependence, containing the virus and mitigating the danger of importation has been extraordinarily difficult and expensive once the illness spread to several regions. This necessitates international cooperation and worldwide investment in vaccine research and delivery, as well as preventative measures such as national and international capacity building in real-time surveillance and the development of contact tracing capabilities. Because new virus outbreaks are unlikely to go away very soon, strong worldwide action is essential to save lives as well as maintain economic prosperity.”
Alan Harder, Mortgage Broker, AlanHarder.ca
“The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the economy badly. One of the IMF estimates states that the world economy has shrunk by over 4% in 2020 that is the worst decline since the Great Depression of 1930. Most major economies suffered a recession with China being the only exception that registered a growth of 2%. The hospitality and travel industry has suffered the worst with a huge number of companies going bankrupt. The only sector to have some smoothness in the business was pharmaceuticals where many new individuals and firms joined in. Global unemployment has increased by a whopping 33 million in 2020 as per the reports by the International Labour Organization.”
Mark Condon, Owner and CEO at Shotkit
There is no doubt about the devastating effects of the pandemic on the economy, in the US and across the globe. Everyone was impacted by this to varying extents. While the world has witnessed the tragic loss of lives to the pandemic, it has alongside witnessed a tremendous blow to the economy as well. How long it takes to recover from this blow is yet to be seen.
