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What is old news for Trends Journal subscribers who were warned back in May that the launching of COVID War 2.0 to fight the Delta variant, has now, some three months later, made its way into the mainstream mindset.
According to data analyzed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) last week, the COVID virus’s Delta variant sweeping the globe is slowing economic recovery among some of the world’s major economies as more people avoid restaurants, theaters, shopping centers, and public transport. Again, this is precisely what we had forecast.
The group looked at figures on employment, manufacturing, retail sales, and wage growth in its 38 member countries, which include the world’s richest nations.
The numbers show the pace of economic expansion is slowing in Brazil, Britain, China, France, Germany, much of the rest of Europe, Russia, and the U.S., the OECD reported.
China has toughened business and social strictures in the face of the new viral surge, leading some economists to predict that the manufacturing spurt that drove China’s recovery could begin to reverse.
In France, people need to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test to be allowed inside concert halls, theaters, and museums.
In Brazil, food shortages have led to scenes of teens at traffic intersections holding signs that say “hunger.”
Nations’ economic recoveries could feel more bumps than expected because of the virus’s return, “despite the gradual lifting of COVID-19 containment measures and the progress of vaccination campaigns,” the report warned.
TREND FORECAST: Analysts and institutions will reduce their expectations for global GDP growth this year. Fear of COVID, as much and perhaps more than the virus itself, will embolden politicians into imposing stricter controls than are necessary.