The Pandemic Economy

The COVID-19 pandemic that began in China late last year triggered the most severe global economic collapse since the Great Depression of the 1930s. By spring, half the world's population was forced to stay home to halt the spread of the disease, causing widespread business closures and millions of lost jobs. Governments pumped trillions of dollars into economic stimulus packages, and companies began to revamp their global supply chains, especially for critical medical supplies that had been almost exclusively manufactured in China. As employees who still had jobs switched to telework, many companies began to rethink their need for office space. When the lockdowns began to ease in late May, economic indicators started to show positive news. But that began to change as the virus erupted across the U.S. Sun Belt and the developing world in June and July. Economists said the pandemic's negative economic impact likely would be felt for years, as health officials warned about a second, more powerful wave of infections in the fall while the world awaits an effective vaccine.