We are about nine months into the coronavirus outbreak and six months in from when it was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. At this point the economic effect of the virus has spread all over with top global economies like; United States, United kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan in recession, experiencing sharp economic contractions in the last quarter ranging from 20.4% (U.K) to 7.8% (Japan). Developing economies in Asia and Africa have also been hit hard.
Economic recovery is the next phase after a recession, it can range for a period of months to several years, ideally followed by economic expansion, in some cases, a country can slip back into recession.
While the drop in economies may have been global, the rate of recovery would certainly be different for various countries depending on their preemptive response to the situation.
Some economies are yet to begin the recovery process with nations setting stricter lockdown rules due to second waves, but with advancement in medicine, measures to counter a second wave would likely be more productive. If more people would keep to guidelines.Recovery is represented using a variety of alphabets;
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U-shaped curve: this is the most realistic recovery pattern most countries would take. According to a poll conducted by
reuters;
More than 55% or 87 of 155 economists said the global economic recovery would be U-shaped. Thirty-one analysts said it would be V-shaped and 24 said it be more like a check mark. A few respondents expected a W- or L- shape.
In this pattern, the economy would suffer a sharp decline in key indicators, followed by a period of stagnation which would lead up to an expansion. This is similar to what I have noticed in China, after the drop in the first quarter, they are leading the recovery and have started to slowly return to normal, although actually economic metrics are difficult to identify.
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V-shaped curve; this is the second highest pattern from the polll above and is a very optimistic prediction, as it expects the economy to immediately rebound after a drop without any period of stagnation. I think this may be possible depending on the policies (fiscal and health) which were implemented during the decline. Flattening of the pandemic curve, would lead to reopening of businesses and increase in employment, this would stimulate the economy by creating an enabling environment. In an ideal economy, I think this might be possible, however some financial policies such as; massive money printing or zero or negative interest rate could have a recurring effect on the economy, resulting in a possible W-shaped curve. A second or third wave of the virus can also lead to economic crashes.
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W-shaped curve: this is represented by a sharp rebound followed by similar sharp drop in the recovery curve. The first spike upwards could be said to be a false indicator resulting from cut-and-cover policies meant to stimulate the economy without having any lasting effect. This is followed by an organic growth pattern, or could be repeated over again, if effective measures are not used.
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L-shaped curve: In this case, there is a long period of stagnation following the decline. This would lead to a long period of recovery before an economy enters into an expansion phase.
There's also a
K-shaped curve: this is the most dynamic recovery curve which is characterised by varying patterns in various economic sectors and could be a result of discriminatory policies. A k-shaped recovery would split the recovery curve into two, one sector slips into stagnation or continues to decline, while the other begins the recovery process or rebounds back up.
What pattern of recovery are you expecting in your country?