Page 10 - Millenial Finomics Issue 1

As much as intimidat-
-lematic implications (among oth-
ers). However, could the impli-
cations have been drastic enough
to count as separate crises of
their own? and even exceed the
urgency of a COVID infection?
Egyptians under the poverty line
increased from 27.8% in 2015
to 32.5%. Picture this: a citizen
falling into unemployment- with
no guarantee of a daily income
that suffices. Option 1, they go
on and dedicate budget to sani-
tation materials and stay home in
quarantine. Option 2, they spend
days on the streets from a search
unpromising circumstances.
ing words like “unem-
ployment” appear as if
they can’t get any more
sophisticated, you nev-
er get the amount of
complexity till you move
from the average effect
to the day-to-day impact
on individuals. No mat-
ter how “macro” matters
are, at least to the econ-
omists and policymakers
who dissect them, when
it comes to human expe-
of one job to another and -rience, the expression could
throw themselves at any oppor- no further entail the (ironically)
tunity of income (even if mini- big picture. It is easy to say that
mum). Well, it is with basic logic Tourism restrictions are one of
that we conclude it’s option 2. the main factors that caused na-
While it seems equally logical to tional unemployment to leap to a
acknowledge that everyone be- 9.2%- specifically due to its con-
ing cautious of the pandemic is
“good for everyone”, a COVID nection to an array of key indus-
diagnosis might be only a possi- tries including but not limited to
bility for an individual compared hospitality and attractions. How-
to an absolute certainty of hun- ever, you wouldn’t get the extent
ger and displacement. A group of it till you open the door to the
of people is running away from stories. Members of the tourism
COVID, others jumping right industry, and all those directly in-
into it- and they’re both running volved with it, have been living
for safety. through more than a decade of
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Due to the known political in-
stability preceding the Arab
Spring, tourism had unclear
prospects and consequently
kept industry morale low. Only
when Egyptian tourism was tip-
toeing away from unreliability
and gradually spiking, and only
when members of the industry
heightened their expectations,
it all went downhill. It is a sto-
ry of Luxor tour guides having
a stable income but ending up
with no income at all. It is when
hotel management expanded
only to contract again. It varies
from kitchen crews, room ser-
vice agents, tailors of handicraft
souvenirs, and even includes the
young Dahab girl braiding tour-
ists’ hair for a day’s allowance.
By understanding the people,
you come to understand the in-
tensity.
While you might expect that the
pandemic only steps hard on
lower socioeconomic classes, is-
sues of different nature tend to
hit universally- and at all levels.
Quarantined individuals in abu-
sive households had no escape
from trauma for months and
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