Page 73 - COVID-19: The Great Reset

Social safety nets will need to be strengthened as well – in the
Anglo-Saxon societies that are the most “market-oriented”;

extended unemployment benefits, sick leave and many other
social measures will have to be implemented to cushion the effect
of the shock and will thereafter become the norm. In many
countries, renewed trade union engagement will facilitate this

process. Shareholder value will become a secondary
consideration, bringing to the fore the primacy of stakeholder
capitalism. The financialization of the world that gained so much
traction in past years will probably go into reverse. Governments,

particularly in the countries most affected by it – the US and the
UK – will be forced to reconsider many features of this obsession
with finance. They could decide on a broad range of measures,
from making share buy-backs illegal, to preventing banks from

incentivizing consumer debt. The public scrutiny of private
companies will increase, particularly (but not only) for all the
businesses that benefited from public money. Some countries will
nationalize, while others will prefer to take equity stakes or to

provide loans. In general, there will be more regulation covering
many different issues, such as workers’ safety or domestic
sourcing for certain goods. Businesses will also be held to
account on social and environmental fractures for which they will

be expected to be part of the solution. As an add-on, governments
will strongly encourage public-private partnerships so that private
companies get more involved in the mitigation of global risks.
Irrespective of the details, the role of the state will increase and, in

doing so, will materially affect the way business is conducted. To
varying degrees, business executives in all industries and all
countries will have to adapt to greater government intervention.
Research and development for global public goods such as health

and climate change solutions will be actively pursued. Taxation
will increase, particularly for the most privileged, because
governments will need to strengthen their resilience capabilities
and wish to invest more heavily in them. As advocated by Joseph

Stiglitz:

The first priority is to (…) provide more funding for the
public sector, especially for those parts of it that are designed

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