Futurist says coronavirus could last for years ‘like the Great Depression’ – Mirror Online

An expert has warned the world could be plunged into a new Great Depression under a coronavirus worst case scenario.

Peter Schwartz believes the 'cascading crises' currently gripping the world could result in an almost decade-long disaster.

He said these crises include the social turmoil from the Black Lives Matter movement and leadership problems in some countries.

The futurist has warned if scientists fail to find a vaccine, the world could face a Great Depression-style ordeal for years on end.

He added: "We don't have vaccines for a lot of these viruses. So it's entirely plausible we won't for this (coronavirus) either.

"And that means, in turn, that we're not going to get back to 100% of where we were before for years.

"It's like 1929-1937 that sort of timeframe. We are in the Great Depression and so we're below the economic potential for quite a long time.

"Maybe someday we'll get a vaccine but you kind of learn to live in a pandemic world.

"And that is a plausible scenario of depressed economic activity and a persistent pandemic where Covid is the new normal."

Mr Schwartz said the world is currently suffering from four crises - health, economic, social and leadership.

He has described how the situation developed from a health crisis into an economic one.

The expert added: "We had somewhat of an economic crisis going in, a trade war that has now been amplified.

"We have a social crisis now created by the Black Lives Movement worldwide and the response to the George Floyd killing,

"And then finally we have a leadership crisis in some countries. So this is the scenario where essentially the virus really persists."

Mr Schwartz, head of strategic planning at tech company Salesforce, told the World Economic Forum no 'new normal' would arrive without a vaccine.

The expert wrote: "Instead, a 'Covid normal' emerges, with continuing waves of the virus, persistent economic uncertainty and deep societal unrest."

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Futurist says coronavirus could last for years 'like the Great Depression' - Mirror Online