Returning in the times of the coronavirus

I cannot believe that I have been away from my blog since September of last year after a trip to Chile.  How much things have changed!   We could then travel and thought that the main risk for those who live in the UK was Brexit.  Yet the last few months have reminded us how unpredictable life is and how we should not take anything for granted.  An unexpected pandemic is leaving deaths, health care chaos, and a major economic crisis.  Of course, it has also reminded us of the heroism of many (particularly doctors, nurses and many other key workers) and should remind us the importance of public health services.

Yet I am not coming back to the blog to talk about the virus; as much as I would like to contribute to those debates, I do not have particular expertise on the subject.  Instead, I hope to write more often now to: (a) remind us all of the costs of growing costs of inequality; (b) explore the likely impact of the current crisis in income concentration; and, to a lesser extent, (c) discuss the extent to which the global North - global South division is still useful and valid.

To begin, let me include here a few links demonstrating that the impact of the crisis on income distribution is likely to be rather harmful (these articles are from The Economist and the FT, but I will try to diversify more in the future):

How covid-19 exacerbates inequality --the case of the UK

The pandemic shock will make big, powerful firms even mightier

Big hedge funds raise money to capitalize on market turmoil

More tomorrow.  If somebody is reading this and have suggestions or reflections, please let me know.  I realise saving lives and keeping healthy is our priority... but reflecting on the consequences that the crisis can have in one of the key problems of the 21st century is not irrelevant.