The COVID-19 pandemic has served to highlight many of the existing vulnerabilities of the international economic system – some of which were lurking just beneath the surface while others were obvious for all to see. It turns out that many businesses were already close to having to declare bankruptcy, some sectors of retail were already in the process of becoming irrelevant, and growing wealth inequality was already on the precipice of leading to civil disturbance in rich and poor countries alike.
COVID-19 essentially hit the “fast forward” button on emerging trends in a variety of sectors of national economies, hastening the demise of the shopping mall, laying bare how unnecessary being physically located in commercial workspaces is, and sounding the death knell for numerous 100+-year-old brands that had failed to adapt to the blistering pace of change in the digital economy. Failure to contemplate and embrace the future is leaving carnage in its wake.
The onslaught of dramatic change that has accompanied COVID-19 reminds us…
