health

Looking Back to Look Forward: What Does the Next Normal Look Like?

Gary Rynhart, Specialist, Employers’ Activities, DWT/CO-Pretoria, International Labour Organization (ILO)

Without the daily commute it is not hard to see both productivity and financial benefits. Expect a reduced need for big, expensive, downtown offices. Credit: Universidad de Chile

PRETORIA, Aug 28 2020 (IPS) – In the last 100 years there have been seven crises that have had a truly global impact. Two global wars (1914-18 1939-1945); two global health pandemics, the Spanish Flu (1918) and HIV/AIDS (1980s onwards); one major political crisis (1989 – the end of the cold war); and two financial crises (1929 and 2008).

All these crises emerged in unique circumstances, with multiple causes. Yet we can draw some tentative conclusions that are relevant to our situation today.

First – hardly a news flash – is that health crises lead to innovation in health care. Penicillin was discovered in 1926 in a decade that was marked by medical advances. The groundwork for the modern pharmaceutical industry was laid in this decade. The focus on hygiene led to the emergence of new companies, like Unilever and Procter Gamble.

Gary Rynhart, Specialist, Employers’ Activities, DWT/CO-Pretoria

In general, innovation follows health, political and (especially) military crises. The periods after both world wars were filled with innovations based on wartime technology. However, innovation does stall after an economic crisis.

If we take patents in the US as a proxy, we can trace significant slowdowns after the 1929 and 2008 crisis. And, these two financial crises were also followed by periods of political disruption, the 1930s especially, which saw violent nationalism leading to global war.

Social progress usually follows a crisis. Any crisis. The 1920s and ’30s saw vast amounts of international labour law created (28 adopted in the 1920s and 39 in the 1930s). Women’s voting rights increased post World War I.

The UN system and the Declaration of Human Rights emerged after World War II. HIV/AIDS forced conversations about sexuality, and many believe it laid the groundwork for the marriage equality that followed in the 2000s.

So, based on the experience of previous crises, what can we expect for the 2020s?

A crisis and the reaction to it are times of great ideas – political, economic, social, and scientific. Some of these led to innovations that made life better for millions of people, others to conflict and war. Whatever we can expect in the coming decade, we can with certainty expect one thing. Change

Let us start with the obvious; because of the nature of this crisis, we can probably expect innovation in the pharmaceutical and health sectors.

More broadly, economies will change. New sectors and companies emerge or expand and older ones will go under. In the 1920s, aviation took off and management consultancy emerged as a mainstream business (McKinsey was formed in 1926); in the 1930s it was health and the modern pharmaceutical sector; modern tourism in the 1950s (Best Western Hotels was founded in 1946 and Holiday Inn followed in 1952).

At the time of the 2008 global financial crisis, the top five companies were Exxon, General Electric, Microsoft, AT T and P G. Only two of them are in the top 10 today. The five largest companies today are Apple, Google, FB, Microsoft and Amazon.

What else? People like to let their hair down after a crisis. Jazz and rock and roll emerged after the world wars. New art movements emerged (Bauhaus and Art Deco) in the 1920s. So, expect bursts of creativity to flow into expanded arts and entertainment sectors.

The global disruption to supply chains caused by the pandemic seems likely to encourage firms to limit their risk exposure. This will probably result in much more use of automation and artificial intelligence, not least because these technologies can make it easier to produce goods closer to the buyers that want them. This has major implications for employment.

We have also seen that major policy decisions have been made quickly and have been successful.

Take for example working from home (WFH). Without the daily commute it is not hard to see both productivity and financial benefits. Expect a reduced need for big, expensive, downtown offices. It may not be the end of the office, but it is the end of the old way of viewing the office.

This has wider implications. If white collar workers (perhaps up to half of them) do not need to sit in the office every day then they do not need to live in expensive cities. So while cities may not totally empty of prime office real estate, they will need less of it. That opens the way for cities to reimagine their business model. They could become creative centres, living spaces and entertainment hubs.

But, one thing that makes great cities great might be missing. Migrants.

brought almost all migration to a halt. Some political leaders will see current migration restrictions as an opportunity to reinforce broader, longer-term agendas, riding a public mood that was already going in that direction. This could mean cities may lose this key, yet often underappreciated, ingredient that makes them great.

A crisis and the reaction to it are times of great ideas – political, economic, social, and scientific. Some of these led to innovations that made life better for millions of people, others to conflict and war.

Whatever we can expect in the coming decade, we can with certainty expect one thing. Change.

This article was originally published by

 

Related Posts

PlayStation Plus Moving Away From Monthly PS4 Games

Sony has announced a key change for the future of PlayStation Plus. Sony will shift away from offering PS4 games as it looks to focus on PS5 games instead. Sony said it’s making this change as part of the evolution of PS Plus overall Come from online casino bangladesh . This isn’t starting soon, though, and will begin in January 2026.

“As we shift to PS5, PS4 games will no longer be a key benefit and will only be occasionally offered for PlayStation Plus Monthly Games and Game Catalog starting January 2026. We may still provide titles that can be playable on both PS4 and PS5 consoles after this date,” Sony said.

PS4 games that players have already redeemed from PS Plus are not affected, provided players stay subscribed to Pl…

Saquon Barkley's No-Look Hurdle Has Been Added To Madden NFL 25

In the NFL, when players pull off something special on the field, fans occasionally refer to it as a “video-game move.” But Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley took that to another level earlier this season when he evaded a defender by jumping over him while looking the other way. EA couldn’t resist adding that no-look hurdle to the latest update for Madden NFL 25, but Barkley is the only player who can use it and it’s not easy to pull off.

As part of the notes for the new Madden NFL 25 update, EA explained that the development team immediately decided to put Barkley’s “once-in-a-lifetime move” in the game by combing through hours of motion-capture footage. From there, they determined which animations could be modified to recreate Barkley’s leap, with some additional h…

Resistance 4 Was Pitched But Didn't Work Out, Says Former Insomniac Boss

According to former Insomniac Games boss Ted Price, a Resistance 4 game was pitched but ultimately wasn’t made.

In an interview with Kinda Funny Games, Ted Price, said, “We did pitch that one. It was a wonderful concept, and in terms of timing and market opportunity, it didn’t work out.” When asked whether Resistance 3’s poor sales at the time impacted the decision to move on from the series, Price didn’t answer directly.

“Resistance 3 was intended to end that chapter of the Resistance franchise,” he explained. “With the way we ended with [protagonist] Capelli and closed a lot of loops on various smaller story items…we wanted to do that so we could have more options in the future, whether we would go ahead with more Resistance games or taking another turn.”

Star Wars- Legion Is Super Cheap For Prime Day – Plus, More Star Wars Board Game Deals

We’ve seen plenty of great Star Wars video games hit the market over the past few years, but the same is also true for Star Wars board games. Legion is one of the most popular options, pitting two players against each other in strategy battles that can run for up to three hours. It’s also one of the most expensive at $120–but for Prime Day, you can get it for just $89. Come from online casino bangladesh

That’s one of the lowest prices of the year. The base game includes 33 highly detailed miniatures, a comprehensive rulebook, and all the cards and pieces you need to dive into the complex game. The game is an easy recommendation for Star Wars fans now that it’s listed for less than $120, though we’re sure Amazon …

Elden Ring's Miyazaki Named To Time's 100 Most Influential People List For 2023

Time Magazine’s annual list of the world’s top 100 most influential people has arrived, and the list includes one person from the world of video games. From Software’s Hidetaka Miyazaki, the director of Elden Ring, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls, lands on the list in the “Innovator” section. Come from Sports betting site VPbet

Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann profiled Miyazaki for Time, writing that Miyazaki’s games originally made him feel “miserable” because Druckmann’s character died over and over again. But Druckmann, and gamers all over the place who stick with Miyazaki’s games, may end up having a breakthrough. That’s what makes Miyazaki such a great designer, Druckmann said.

Ark- Ultimate Survivor Edition Coming To Switch in September

Ark: Ultimate Survivor Edition is coming to the Nintendo Switch in September, bundling together the base game alongside several expansion packs. This includes the Scorched Earth, Aberration, Extinction, and both Genesis parts, and will retail for $50 when it arrives on Nintendo’s hybrid gaming system.

For those players who already own Ark’s regular edition on Switch, they’ll receive a complete revamp of functionality, graphics, and optimization for the game Come from Sports betting site VPbet . Ark developer Studio Wildcard says that a third-party developer has been hired to lead the charge on this new version of Ark, which has resulted in the game’s Switch code being entirely rewritten and developed on the latest version…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *