Schwab Klaus, Malleret Thierry. COVID-19: The Great Reset

Cologny/Geneva: Forum Publishing, 2020. — 280 p. — ISBN10 2940631123, ISBN13: 978-2940631124."COVID-19: The Great Reset" is a guide for anyone who wants to understand how COVID-19 disrupted our social and economic systems, and what changes will be needed to create a more inclusive, resilient and sustainable world going forward. Klaus Schwab, founder and executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, and Thierry Malleret, founder of the Monthly Barometer, explore what the root causes of this crisis were, and why they lead to a need for a Great Reset.Theirs is a worrying, yet hopeful analysis. COVID-19 has created a great disruptive reset of our global social, economic, and political systems. But the power of human beings lies in being foresighted and having the ingenuity, at least to a certain extent, to take their destiny into their hands and to plan for a better future. This is the purpose of this book: to shake up and to show the deficiencies which were manifest in our global system, even before COVID broke out.About Covid-19: The Great Reset
Since it made its entry on the world stage, COVID-19 has dramatically torn up the existing script of how to govern countries, live with others and take part in the global economy. Written by World Economic Forum Founder Klaus Schwab and Monthly Barometer author Thierry Malleret, COVID-19: The Great Reset considers its far-reaching and dramatic implications on tomorrow’s world.The book’s main objective is to help understand what’s coming in a multitude of domains. Published in July 2020, in the midst of the crisis and when further waves of infection may still arise, it is a hybrid between a contemporary essay and an academic snapshot of a crucial moment in history. It includes theory and practical examples but is chiefly explanatory, containing many conjectures and ideas about what the post-pandemic world might, and perhaps should, look like.The book has three main chapters, offering a panoramic overview of the future landscape. The first assesses what the impact of the pandemic will be on five key macro categories: the economic, societal, geopolitical, environmental and technological factors. The second considers the effects in micro terms, on specific industries and companies. The third hypothesizes about the nature of the possible consequences at the individual level.In early July 2020, we are at a crossroads, the authors of COVID-19: The Great Reset argue. One path will take us to a better world: more inclusive, more equitable and more respectful of Mother Nature. The other will take us to a world that resembles the one we just left behind – but worse and constantly dogged by nasty surprises. We must therefore get it right. The looming challenges could be more consequential than we have until now chosen to imagine, but our capacity to reset could also be greater than we had previously dared to hope.Introduction.
Macro reset.
Conceptual framework – Three defining characteristics of today’s world.
Interdependence.
Velocity.
Complexity.
Economic reset.
The economics of COVID-19.
Uncertainty.
The economic fallacy of sacrificing a few lives to save growth.
Growth and employment.
Economic growth.
Employment.
What future growth could look like.
Fiscal and monetary policies.
Deflation or inflation?
The fate of the US dollar.
Societal reset.
Inequalities.
Social unrest.
The return of «big» government.
The social contract.
Geopolitical reset.
Globalization and nationalism.
Global governance.
The growing rivalry between China and the US.
Fragile and failing states.
Environmental reset.
Coronavirus and the environment.
Nature and zoonotic diseases.
Air pollution and pandemic risk.
Lockdown and carbon emissions.
Impact of the pandemic on climate change and other environmental policies.
Technological reset.
Accelerating the digital transformation.
The consumer.
The regulator.
The firm.
Contact tracing, contact tracking and surveillance.
The risk of dystopia.
Micro reset (industry and business).
Micro trends.
Acceleration of digitization.
Resilient supply chains.
Governments and business.
Stakeholder capitalism and ESG.
Industry reset.
Social interaction and de-densification.
Behavioural changes – permanent vs transient.
Resilience.
Individual reset.
Redefining our humanness.
The better angels in our nature… or not.
Moral choices.
Mental health and well-being.
Changing priorities.
Creativity.
Time.
Consumption.
Nature and well-being.
Conclusion.
Acknowledgements.
Endnotes.