Short Reads
The global pandemic has completely altered life as we know it in the short-term. In the long-term, a hopeful result would be openness to new political economic possibilities. Policies like modern monetary theory, single-payer healthcare, and universal basic income, seemingly beyond the pale of mainstream recognition before the pandemic, may now be given a fair shake. I want to make the case that another political-economic shift ought to be considered in light of the pandemic—economic democracy.
The start of a new decade sparked hope that something good was coming. 2020 started off seemingly normal for most people: celebrating New Year’s, making strides towards their resolutions, and going about their normal lives as they had done in 2019. That is until COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus, tilted the world on its axis. Even though the coronavirus approached the United States slowly, it hit hard. The effects have been felt in all aspects of people’s lives: the country went on lockdown, once-booming businesses permanently closed their doors, and the economy grinded to a halt; indeed, COVID-19 is the biggest economic crisis since the Great Recession nearly a decade ago.
