The COVID-19 pandemic was a predictable outcome of accelerated globalization – plenty of people said it would come. But many governments paid little attention to the risks of accelerated viral transmission and have been caught on the hop, resulting in feeble policy responses and unnecessarily high levels of epidemic severity.  Vulnerability to pandemics is only one of the weaknesses in our old model of globalization. Others include soaring inequality and the failure to respond to the challenges of climate change.

So, in the throes of the pandemic, the most dangerous idea doing the rounds is that we can simply bounce back to the same old reality, once a vaccine is found. We must not forget that “Business as usual” is what got us to where we are.

Read more