It might seem pretty obvious, but the longer the coronavirus pandemic continues, the more damage it will do to global economies. Andrew Blasi believes that if the pandemic goes through into the summer, “Anything goes.”
Blasi, a director with Crowell & Moring International, sat down with “Hashing it Out” to discuss the impact the coronavirus is having on global economies and societies.
“If we can get a good footing on this early, I would suspect that much of what has been lost, or perceptually lost, the damage could be fairly quickly recovered,” Blasi said. “There’s no doubt at this point that there’s going to be a significant economic contraction. The question is to what extent there will be a rebounding of that contraction.”
He went on to say that he’s had conversations with individuals in Japan, and the status report is that many people are going back to work. Japan had an estimated 924 cases and 29 deaths.
“The introduction of certainty will be the main indicator, the main force behind the ability for us to recover quickly,” Blasi continued. “If, however, this persists and it takes us through the summer and beyond, anything goes at this point. If the length of this virus persists, given the strong focus of the United States as a consumption-based economy in the way we’re oriented, it could have significant ramifications for how we structure ourselves as an economy.”
