Time will tell, but today, one and a half years after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the “gloom-and-doom” predictions of world-wide recession, major disruptions in international trade, and rapidly rising unemployment appear to have been exaggerated. As the International Monetary Fund pointed out, the 2008/2009 financial crisis had a much more negative impact on the economy than either a “typical” recession or past “modern” pandemics. Of course, the current COVID-19 pandemic is severe in its global impact and is not comparable with previous modern pandemics, but nevertheless, it appears to have affected the world’s economy less severely than originally feared. The world’s economic system seems more resilient to health crises than to financial crises.
