Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Sep 01, 2025

Capitalism isn't working anymore. Here's how the pandemic could change it forever

Capitalism isn't working anymore. Here's how the pandemic could change it forever

Capitalism is in crisis. The pandemic could change it forever, in favor of workers and those in greatest need.

Covid has put a magnifying glass over the many inequalities of the US economy and society. Millions of Americans are still out of work. Women and minority workers have been hit particularly hard. Many people can't afford child care or the technology their children need for distance learning at school.

The playing field wasn't level before, and the virus has shone a new light on the shortcomings of today's economic and social systems, said Paul Collier, economics and public policy professor at Oxford. The World Economic Forum has already called for a "great reset" of capitalism.

It's emblematic of today's capitalist society that groups of people get left behind, and it's the job of policy makers to try to fix that.

This isn't the first time capitalism is in crisis. In the 1950s - America's so-called golden age - there were concerns about automation eliminating jobs and people falling through the cracks of the government's safety net (sound familiar?). And in 2008, corporate greed came under the microscope following the financial crisis.

In modern history, only the Great Depression was more economically devastating than Covid-19. The aftermath of the Great Depression - relief, recovery, and most of all, reform - may once again be necessary to create a better economy for the future, said Larry Glickman, professor of American studies at Cornell.

It will be hard to sweep all of America's economic issues under the rug again when the pandemic is over.

"We are pregnant with change," said MIT economics professor Daron Acemoglu.

Here are three ways the pandemic might change capitalism forever:


A new social safety net

The pandemic exposed the cracks in America's social safety net. Enter the welfare state 2.0, which could be more attuned to workers' needs, experts said.

"We're in a moment where the pendulum is [swinging] towards a more favorable view of what government can do," Glickman said.

Better-designed unemployment benefits, programs to help people back into the workforce and more affordable housing could help ease the burden of this crisis for the weakest members of the economy.

Millions have lost their jobs in the pandemic, but regular unemployment benefits are often not enough to make ends meet, while rents eat up a large chunk of incomes across the country. As the pandemic drags on, hunger is an increasing problem, too.
On top of that, workers in mostly lower-paid jobs have found themselves at risk for contracting the virus at their workplace, including casinos, meat processing plants and shipping warehouses.

Paying to replace these workers' wages won't come cheap, and will likely mean that taxes will have to rise while still staying low enough not to stifle business, economists agree. It's a tightrope.


Globalization and automation challenge the manufacturing sector

Globalization goes hand in hand with capitalism. It has changed the way money and people move around the world.
A big challenge for policy makers is to deal with how that has affected workers.

In today's capitalism, money is, for the most part, considered more important than workers: If moving jobs elsewhere, or using robots saves dollars, it's done.

For workers on the wrong side of these trends, things haven't improved, and this has exacerbated inequality, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said earlier this year. The pandemic has provided a real-life example that robots don't get sick, but human workers do.

Welfare isn't only about benefits. It also extends to education and health care. In a world where machines increasingly take over people's jobs, educating the next generation so their skills match what's needed is important.


More debt than ever before

Capitalism isn't only about how a country treats its people and workers, it's also about how it treats its money.

Covid has brought on government spending like never before and deficits are burgeoning around the world. The Congressional Budget Office predicts the US federal budget deficit will be $3.3 trillion at the end of the year - more than triple of what it was in 2019.

Debt might be one of the most prominent characteristics of today's capitalism, said Christine Desan, professor of law at Harvard.
In the post-pandemic world, policy makers will either have to accept living with enormous debt burdens or address a complete overhaul of the system in place.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
×