COVID-19 Have Accelerated the Economic Transformation

The transformation of the economy is already in progress and Covid-19 just seemed to have accelerated it

— Thierry Arys Ruiz

In our third episode of the new webinar series, The Financial Future We Want: Economy Post COVID-19, cross-sector experts came together to discuss the effects of pandemics on economies around the world and steps forward.

The panel consisted of distinguished experts:

· Thierry Arys Ruiz, TARCO NGO, AgAu AG, American Institute for Economic Research — AIER — Bastiat Society Switzerland

· Kristina Touzenis: Managing Partner | BST-Impact | Head of Geneva Chapter of Women in Sustainable Finance

· Aleksander Berentsen: Professor of Economics | University of Basel | Research Fellow | Federal Reserve Bank | Technical Advisor | BIS

· Garry Gürtler: CEO of IWG Switzerland | Flexible Work Space

The panelists have agreed mutually on one impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: it has shed a light on the already existing issues with our current financial systems.

Dr. Berentsen opened the discussion by emphasizing that COVID-19 hasn’t brought the changes that he expected. He stated that he wants a system where everyone has access to financial products and services. Dr. Berentsen believes that the current system is “very restrictive”. He reassured that “the future is going to be permissionless and open source, one example would be cryptocurrencies.”

On another note, Mr. Gürtler reviewed how people are going to work in the future from a real estate point of view. Since many companies are starting to seriously consider a hybrid model of working in the long-term by giving their employees the opportunity to work from wherever they want, the company headquarters will become less of a place where employees simply work but more a place where the company’s social life will thrive. Thus, Mr. Gürtler believes that “companies that do this will be much more attractive for talents.”

Furthermore, Dr. Berensten had concerns about online education in the long term. Being a professor at the University of Basel, he considers the possibility that universities and schools may no longer want to hire professors as pre-recorded lectures and materials from the “bests” in the field can be accessed and used anywhere.

Kristine Touzenis, on another hand, flipped the coin and raised her concern over the rising focus on environmental issues that are becoming a priority in the recent decade, and issues like human rights and labor rights are taking a secondary role. Moreover, the legal world is more concerned about environmental legal instruments that have to be created from a scratch. The current concept of SDGs and ESG investing needs a regulatory scheme that actually connects all supply chain-related issues and works toward achieving the SDGs.

Considering the actions that should stimulate the economy post-COVID-19 and don´t increase the disparities of wealth, Kristina Touzenis reinforced the obligation of the state.

“Is the first entity that has the obligation, once they sign and those instruments and negotiate outcomes”. So, the state has to make sure the legislation is respected by everybody who´s under the jurisdiction, obeying national and international legislation, including for investors companies, no matter what size they are.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a tremendous impact across all industries. It is time to pave the way for growth and inclusion by uniting efforts. If you believe in a more sustainable and inclusive financial future, support our mission by subscribing and sharing our webinars. We also encourage you all to explore the related projects of our panelists by following them on social media.

Watch The Financial Future We Want: Economy Post COVID-19 webinar on replay and share your thoughts with us! Stay tuned for the next episode of The Financial Future We Want webinar series and do not forget to subscribe to our channels!