PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Qantas stand down 20,000 employees till end of May
Old 19th Mar 2020, 00:56
  #19 (permalink)  
krismiler
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Asia
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Only a coordinated world response will save us from a depression I fear.
There will be a depression, the magnitude of which will depend on how long this goes on for. The aftermath will be similar to that experienced after a world war. Businesses will go broke and there will be personal bankrupcies. The USA and most western countries are up to their eyes in debt and lack the reserves required to fund a bailout.

However, similar to the recovery from a war, there will be opportunities for those in a position to take advantage of them. Construction companies and their suppliers had a field day rebuilding destroyed cities when WW2 ended for example. There will pent up demand in some sectors which will need to be met and a business strong enough to get through the current situation could be doing very well if most of their competition has gone to the wall.

Overall though, we are facing years of austerity as a result of this. Those close to retirement who have seen a massive drop in the value of their investmnents and now don't have time to wait for a recovery before stopping work will be particularly affected.
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