Expert sees ‘tough slog’ ahead for workers, small businesses
This is part of our Coronavirus Update series, in which Harvard specialists in epidemiology, infectious disease, economics, politics, and other disciplines offer insights into what the latest developments in the COVID-19 outbreak may bring. With stock markets plummeting despite the federal government’s recent steps to try to bolster the economy, worries that COVID-19 could do lasting economic damage are rising. The Gazette spoke with Harvard Business School’s Willy Shih, the Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Management Practice, about lessons learned from China, which appears to have wrestled the epidemic there under control — reporting just a handful of new cases daily — and where people and companies are slowly getting back to work. Q&A Willy Shih GAZETTE: As the epidemic wanes in China and rises here, what are you seeing about COVID-19’s economic impact? SHIH: I think there will be a dawning realization that we are depriving an awful lot of people of income,...