Covid-19 and the response to it has left a trail of destruction. Lives have been lost or permanently altered. Economies are bruised, job losses have soared and public sector deficits are set to serve as an unpleasant reminder of the trauma for many years to come. Many are now asking what comes next, and whether life will ever be quite the same again.
But from the rubble of the destruction, opportunities are emerging to rebuild economies, industries and systems with new and innovative ways of thinking, as has been done so repeatedly in the past: towns that rebuild better after earthquakes, or Japan and Germany’s thriving post-war economies, or business innovations such as Henry Ford’s assembly line or Microsoft’s Windows operating system.
In exposing many of the weaknesses in the world’s healthcare, economic and financial systems, the virus has offered both the opportunity to build back better and a roadmap for how we may do that. Companies and countries with the nerve to take those chances and create a new and improved future are likely to be well rewarded. Destruction can clear the path to innovation.
In a new series of fortnightly features, we will be looking on a sector-by-sector basis – from healthcare to financial services – at how investors can navigate this simultaneously exciting and disruptive change that the world needs. JH
Welcome to The New Future.
A world without limits
There is an odd tranquillity about the coronavirus crisis. Quiet roads, empty skies and family bike rides have replaced the constant pounding of 21st century life. Where complaints about politics and policy, boredom and balance are overridden by an incomparable gratitude for good health.