Since I started to carefully study the coronavirus and its associated health and economic consequences in January 2020, I have been reading many news, research articles, and blog posts. I got more and more concerned and I hope that the situation will improve as soon as possible. Let me now regularly share with you some interesting background articles:
Thomas Wright from Brookings on the long-term effects of COVID-19 on international relations (It is too early to make any serious statements, but it is an interesting article):
Boris Hofmann, Ilhyock Shim and Hyun Song Shin from the Bank of International Settlement (BIS) on “Emerging market economy exchange rates and local currency bond markets amid the Covid-19 pandemic”
Here is the full article:
Tyler Cowen has a good article on “Isolation Changes Everything for Status Seekers: Covid-19 is upending all the usual ways for people to win the approval of their peers.” He argues that:
“The desire for status and approval is one of the most powerful human motives. It induces us to work hard, dress well and engage in conspicuous consumption, such as Instagramming our fancy vacations. But with the rapid advent of Covid-19, most of those options have been whisked away from us.”
“More generally and in the longer run, expect the technology sector and the nerds to rise in status. It is their products and services that are commanding our attention and filling our status vacuums. The “nerdy look” is even less of a social handicap than it used to be. To paraphrase that famous saying: On a Zoom call, nobody knows you’re wearing mismatched socks.”