Page 69 - COVID-19: The Great Reset

cannot be forecasted, but can, however, be anticipated. Which
countries are most susceptible? At first glance, poorer countries

with no safety nets and rich countries with weak social safety nets
are most at risk because they have no or fewer policy measures
like unemployment benefits to cushion the shock of income loss.
For this reason, strongly individualistic societies like the US could

be more at risk than European or Asian countries that either have
a greater sense of solidarity (like in southern Europe) or a better
social system for assisting the underprivileged (like in northern
Europe). Sometimes, the two come together. Countries like Italy,

for example, possess both a strong social safety net and a strong
sense of solidarity (particularly in intergenerational terms). In a
similar vein, the Confucianism prevalent in so many Asian
countries places a sense of duty and generational solidarity before

individual rights; it also puts high value on measures and rules
that benefit the community as a whole. All this does not mean, of
course, that European or Asian countries are immune from social
unrest. Far from it! As the yellow vests movement demonstrated in

the case of France, violent and sustained forms of social unrest
can erupt even in countries endowed with a robust social safety
net but where social expectations are left wanting.

Social unrest negatively affects both economic and social
welfare, but it is essential to emphasize that we are not powerless

in the face of potential social unrest, for the simple reason that
governments and to a lesser extent companies and other
organizations can prepare to mitigate the risk by enacting the right

policies. The greatest underlying cause of social unrest is
inequality. The policy tools to fight unacceptable levels of
inequality do exist and they often lie in the hands of governments.

1.3.3. The return of “big” government

In the words of John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge: “The

COVID-19 pandemic has made government important again. Not
just powerful again (look at those once-mighty companies begging
for help), but also vital again: It matters enormously whether your

country has a good health service, competent bureaucrats and

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