Vaccines are being rolled out; in some places, people are eating in restaurants again; even some cinemas are opening up. A year after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic, the world is slowly returning to a semblance of what it was before the coronavirus began its devastating march.
And with trillions of dollars of stimulus measures acting like a financial shot in the arm of the global economy, stock markets have surged as forecasters such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ramp up their projections for economic growth.
But some economists fear that the underlying causes of the pandemic – among them our pursuit of never-ending economic growth at the expense of the world’s limited natural resources – have yet to be addressed.
Emily Bollinger / WGLT
This story is part of a special episode of Sound Ideas airing March 12, marking the one-year anniversary of COVID s arrival in McLean County. Find more stories in the series.
The pandemic has caused major shifts in real estate. Many businesses closed, some of them permanently. Some companies sent employees home to work. Some of those workers might stay there when the pandemic is over.
Ed Neaves
Credit Illinois Realtors
Commercial Realtors have had to adjust to a changing landscape, one that could reshape Bloomington-Normal in multiple ways.
Ed Neaves is the managing broker for Berkshire Hathaway Central Illinois Realtors. He manages six shopping centers in Bloomington-Normal. Last fall during the height of the pandemic, Neaves took inventory of all the commercial properties available in the Twin Cities. He counted 320.
Leaders of the United States, India, Japan and Australia, convened by US President Joe Biden in a first virtual summit of the ‘Quad’ group of countries, pledged to work together to counter China’s rising influence in the Indo-Pacific and cooperate on COVID-19 and climate.
The leaders discussed challenges posed by China and focused on pressing global crises including climate change and the coronavirus pandemic, said US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
“Over the course of the meeting, a sense of optimism for the future, despite the hard times we’re in, was on full display,” Sullivan told reporters at the White House afterwards.
Tehran, Iran – Iranian officials are cracking down on the use of cryptocurrencies in the country again, with crypto exchanges becoming the latest target of official efforts to control the burgeoning industry.
The current hawkish stance comes in the wake of bitcoin’s meteoric price rise since mid-December, feeding a growing appetite in Iran for crypto assets after the country’s stock bubble burst last summer.
Enthusiasts see bitcoin as a hedge against devaluations of Iran’s currency, the rial, and as a way to circumnavigate United States sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy because bitcoin is not controlled by any government.