Recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic might seem far off, but be we have to start thinking about it now. The pandemic has upended every facet of life for people around the world and in the US. The US government passed a $2.2 trillion CARES Act to help individuals and businesses weather the immediate impacts of the coronavirus. The Federal Reserve has slashed the federal funds target interest rate and pumped more than $4.5 trillion into the economy through various measures to ensure liquidity, price stability, and all out economic collapse. To say all of this is extraordinary is an understatement.
Policy & Economics
Does the Pandemic Mean the End of Globalization?
In a word, no. Globalization is not coming to an end. Certainly we have seen some challenges to globalization efforts over the last several years. The trade war with China, immigration barriers being raised, Brexit, and what appears to be a general retreat of the US in global affairs, the current pandemic can seem the last nail in the coffin for globalization. However, the evidence seems more likely to point to increase global cooperation in the years ahead.
Social Media and Communication
I’m not a big fan of social media. In and of itself there is nothing wrong with it, but I think that people were not set up to communicate this way. All of the negative aspects about “us” tend to come out in social media platforms. I suspect that has to do with the simple fact that the communication is not in-person. When communicating over a medium like the internet, we are distanced from the person we are communicating with. They is no feedback, no cues, nothing to reign us in, calm us down, or cues to guide us. Instead, we run full bore ahead without really thinking about what it is we are saying and how it may be perceived by the person reading it.