As 2021 ends, the global economy is being forced to adapt to significantly changed conditions. It will not be a quick or painless process. The world is facing major disturbances caused by disrupted trade links, soaring energy prices, and labor-market mismatches. While many retailers have closed their brick-and-mortar stores, driving up unemployment, there have been significant shortages of information-technology engineers and truck drivers.
Many of these changes have been caused — or accelerated — by the COVID-19 crisis. But make no mistake: there is no going back to the pre-pandemic normal. The crisis will bring deep and long-lasting change. As we look to the year ahead, we must prepare to cope with three main challenges.