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‘We ain’t seen nothing yet’

Documenting 2020’s convergent crises
by
November 2021, no. 437

Shutdown: How Covid shook the world’s economy by Adam Tooze

Allen Lane, $35 pb, 366 pp

‘We ain’t seen nothing yet’

Documenting 2020’s convergent crises
by
November 2021, no. 437

How will the year 2020 be remembered? No doubt the headline event was the coronavirus pandemic, which shuttered schools, factories, and hospitality services, leading to a contraction of per capita income for ninety-five percent of the world’s economies. For Europe, the acrimonious exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union would serve as a stark reminder of how fragile supranational institutions are in the face of popular fury. Following the murder of George Floyd, similar rage at police brutality marked a turning point in the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States, which preceded a combative presidential election that denied Donald Trump a second term. And the world endured one of its hottest years on record, with surface temperatures reaching nearly one degree above the 141-year average as fires burned through Australia and the United States.

John Tang reviews 'Shutdown: How Covid shook the world’s economy' by Adam Tooze

Shutdown: How Covid shook the world’s economy

by Adam Tooze

Allen Lane, $35 pb, 366 pp

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