Encouraging signals at the end of the year

摘要

A year which seldom before has had such dramatic impacts on the economy, society and peoples’ day to day lives is drawing to its close. A look at the economy and society brings back memories of the financial crisis of 2008/09. As regards peoples’ health, one must look back more than 100 years ago, when the Spanish ‘flu’ spread its disastrous effects over a two-year period (leaving aside the wars of last century and their consequent victims). With the encouraging news that the development of vaccines against the Corona virus is proceeding apace, we can only hope that the economic results of the pandemic will be overcome as quickly as they were after the financial crisis. In contrast, the effects on social life will certainly leave long-lasting and more profound traces. And this, not only because the call for more working from home and more flexible work models is becoming louder.