CORONAVIRUS

How coronavirus will change the world for ever

From the rise of surveillance to the retreat of globalism and death of cash, the pandemic’s impact may be felt for decades, Catherine Philp writes

Catherine Philp
The Times

This too shall pass. The curve will flatten. Humanity will survive. But already the coronavirus outbreak is taking on the shape of a once-in-a-generation watershed. As cities, states and nations scramble to outpace the disease, choices made or rushed through now may alter the shape of the world for decades to come.

The early signs point to changes that may have already been under way, a retreat from globalisation and a resurrection of the nation state as governments scramble, like hoarders in a global supermarket, to make sure that their own households are stocked.

Frontiers effectively erased in Europe have once again slammed shut, even as the southern countries worst affected cry out for a Marshall Plan from the northern industrial giants with whom they