When the coronavirus began its long, deadly march through the United States last spring, and states mandated that businesses and schools close and people stay home to limit the spread of the virus, the ability to communicate and work via videoconferencing platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Skype was hailed as a technological blessing. In stark contrast with the purgatorial mood many people were experiencing during indefinite lockdown, newspaper articles set a celebratory tone, hailing the arrival of the Zoom cocktail hour and encouraging Americans who were now spending countless hours online to add preselected digital backgrounds depicting exotic beaches and other happy scenes to their calls.
Barry Eichengreen January 14, 2021 10:24
With the Democrats’ stunning sweep of Georgia’s two Senate run-off elections handing them control of both houses of Congress as of January 20, the idea of $2,000 stimulus checks for every household is sure to be back on the agenda in the United States. But although targeted relief for the unemployed should unquestionably be a priority, it is not clear that $2,000 checks for all would in fact help to sustain the US economic recovery.
One post-pandemic scenario is a vigorous demand-driven recovery as people gorge on restaurant meals and other pleasures they’ve missed for the past year. Many Americans have ample funds to finance a splurge. Personal savings rates soared following the disbursement of $1,200 checks last spring. Many recipients now expect to save their recent $600 relief payments, either because they have been spared the worst of the recession or because spending opportunities remain locked down.
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Karima Bawa is an expert on the commercialization of university research and development. Myra Tawfik is a professor of law and distinguished university professor at the University of Windsor. Both are senior fellows with the Centre for International Governance Innovation and are the co-authors of The Intellectual Property Guide
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COVID-19 has had a devastating effect on our communities and the global economy for most of 2020. What has kept us all going is the possibility of a vaccine. The initial vaccine timeline of 24 to 36 months was highly accelerated – but even this optimistic timeline was surpassed with the recent release of the first vaccines, offering hope that our lives may once again see some semblance of normalcy before t
The future of work: How the pandemic s awakening will shape Canada s labour force
The global pandemic changed everything in 2020. Now it is going to change everything forever. This is part of The Future of series, in which BNN Bloomberg looks at what is next for our transformed economy and daily lives.
Canadaâs first robot barista kiosk emerged in Torontoâs upscale Yorkville neighbourhood in September. The Dark Horse Automat espresso bar offers specialty coffee on demand, delivered without any human contact to the caffeine-seeker.
This is one of countless innovative new ways of getting work done that were born out of the pandemic. The automat is an example of technology that can replace several shifts of work, perhaps even a barista position or two, though it requires servicing and regular maintenance. In fact, there are few facets of the way that we approach and perform our work that havenât been impacted by the pandemic.
Canada s foreign policy agenda in 2021
There will be a new goal in the coming year: getting ahead (and getting heard) in an unfriendly, chaotic world
In the iconic
West Wing episode “Hartsfield’s Landing” recently adapted by most of the original cast in a special urging Americans to vote that romantic ideal of a president, Jed Bartlet, navigates a geopolitical crisis while juggling chess games with staff. He urges them to “see the whole board.”
We hesitate to suggest that Canadian cabinet meetings sound anything much like an Aaron Sorkin script. But there is much at play in the world outside of that often less-than-romantic White House, no matter who is sitting in it. For all the relief that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau may be feeling at the end of the Donald Trump presidency, there is plenty of strategy, chaos and opportunity elsewhere.