Since March of 2020, few countries have suffered a greater toll than the United States due to the coronavirus pandemic. More than half a million Americans (and counting) have succumbed to the disease. And, according to Visual Capitalist, U.S. GDP suffered its worst decline in history during the heart of the pandemic, while debt continues […]
COVID-19 is bringing about a reckoning for companies around the world. According to Yelp, 60% of U.S. businesses that closed due to COVID-19 will not re-open their doors. Of course, this is heartbreaking for the people who will lose their jobs — not to mention the entrepreneurs who will be losing their life’s work… But […]
The global economy’s ability to recover from COVID-19 hinges on one very important factor: unemployment. More specifically, how high the unemployment rate gets. Although the economic recovery to date has been tremendous (both the Dow and the NASDAQ hit new all-time highs following the policy responses to COVID-19), global unemployment rates remain a question mark. […]
The pace of disruption in the global economy today is phenomenal. We’ve never seen anything like it. Our very way of life is changing before our eyes as COVID-19 alters who we see, how we act, and what we spend our money on. As billionaire global investor Barry Sternlicht told CNBC on June 30th, “If […]
The Federal Reserve is doing it again. The world’s most powerful financial institution has won the confidence game, taken the markets to within striking distance of all-time highs, and is dramatically declining its daily Treasury purchases. Stanley Druckenmiller told CNBC on Monday that recent market performance has “humbled” him and “that he underestimated the power […]
There is no going back. Like the diseases that came before it, COVID-19 is accelerating global socioeconomic change. The change we are witnessing will usher in the 4th Industrial Revolution. The version of capitalism we knew four months ago (pre-pandemic) has evolved rapidly. It is now placing more emphasis on “biosafety,” software, and it appears […]
COVID-19 could permanently alter how Canadian SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) get financing. RBC CEO David McKay stated in an interview with BNN Bloomberg, “It [future COVID-19 business loans] would have to come in a forgivable form, the way it came in did in the [Canada Emergency Business Account], for [businesses] to be interested.” McKay […]
Back in 2007, Thomas Garrett, Assistant Vice President and Economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, published a report titled, Economic Effects of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic: Implications for a Modern-day Pandemic. In it, he explores historical data as well as a variety of papers regarding the Spanish Flu to determine the potential […]
COVID-19 is taking its toll on global mental health, and it could spark renewed interest in innovative mental health technologies. According to a recent survey conducted by the Angus Reid Institute, “. . .half of Canadians say their mental health has gotten worse during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 10 per cent reporting it has deteriorated […]
We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there is no ‘V-shaped’ economic recovery coming. Not in the U.S., and especially not in Canada. Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau stated, “. . .We’re facing a unique challenge. But I know that if we pull together, our economy will come roaring back after […]