Here is our take on the articles summarized below: 

Though the pandemic has devastated the global economy over the last year, there are signs of a robust economic recovery. National leaders are taking the opportunity the pandemic has presented to rebuild cities and rejuvenate the global economy with sustainable, and environmentally conscious solutions. The US finds itself at the forefront of the global recovery thanks to a robust, domestic vaccine rollout and its vaccine diplomacy efforts. 

After Covid-19, the city’s rebirth

Helen Fitzwilliam, Chatham House

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The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the world’s cities as businesses have closed, inhabitants have been forced to stay inside, and the number of tourists has declined substantially. As the world transitions to a “new normal”, city leaders and developers are thinking of new ways to liven up cities and create a greener future. This article looks at the transformation and recovery efforts of five cities – Amsterdam, Barcelona, Freetown, Paris, and Xiong’An. Amsterdam is embracing “doughnut economics” which is a circular economic model that moves away from the “take-make-dispose” model and encourages more sustainable business practices. The mayor of Amsterdam has also proposed buying up empty red-light district properties to transform them into housing, green spaces, and shops. Barcelona is working hard to reduce the number of cars on roads and to create more public space. The city found that cars only account for 20% of journeys but occupy 70% of the city’s space, so the mayor of Barcelona is intent on creating “superblocks” – an area of nine blocks with severely restricted car access – throughout the city. The capital of Sierra Leone, Freetown, is planting seedlings throughout the city and providing clean water access by installing rainwater harvesting tanks. City leaders and developers would like to see Paris become a “15-minute city” where residents can access everything they need for all aspects of life within a 15-minute walk from home. The mayor of Paris also seeks to rejuvenate one of Paris’ most famous (and most polluted) streets, the Champs Elysees, by halving the number of parking spaces available on the avenue and planting trees to improve air quality, among other things. Finally, China’s city of Xiong’An is already on its way to becoming an “eco-city.” The high-speed bullet train from Xiong’An departed from Beijing for the first time in December. Spanish architect Vicente Guallart will design a neighborhood in Xiong’An to “merge humanity and nature” and be self-sufficient in the event of another lockdown. While the pandemic has brought much devastation, it has also brought the opportunity for the world to improve and progress.

America’s Come-From-Behind Pandemic Victory

Hal Brands, Foreign Policy

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As with all crises, the dynamics of the pandemic have shifted as the situation evolved; while the global influence of the United States seemed to be weakening in the early days of the pandemic, since then it has made an impressive comeback, especially when compared to China. Between seemingly out-of-control case counts, a sharply divided populace, and a lack of leadership in global institutions, the reputation of the US as the preeminent liberal democracy was quickly eroded. With their traditional catalyst out of commission, global institutions (such as the G7) failed to mobilize against the pandemic. Meanwhile, China was building its position through vaccine diplomacy and aggressive anti-West propaganda. As time went on, however, the scales tilted back towards the US, thanks in no small part to the monumental fiscal response and speedy vaccine development. With the International Monetary Fund now predicting a higher US GDP in 2024 than was expected before the pandemic, economic resilience seems to be a key element of the United States’ position. The vaccine effort has also yielded fruit beyond just herd immunity; as the largest donor to international vaccine efforts, the US is quickly establishing its place as the leader in vaccine diplomacy, building in the process a coalition of countries threatened by China’s strongarm approach to its own vaccine. Anti-China sentiment has reached its highest level in decades in multiple democratic countries, although little official action has yet been taken. China’s aggressive actions in the South China Sea, Hong Kong, India, and Taiwan have done little to endear it to the world. As the follow-on impacts of the pandemic continue to play out, the global balance of power has changed less than many thought; history has a tendency to produce outcomes different than the current perception of its trajectory.

Why the Chip Shortage Is So Hard to Overcome

Eun-Young Jeong and Dan Strumpf, The Wall Street Journal

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As we have written previously, the ongoing semiconductor shortage poses a significant challenge for the global economy. Between a demand spike, supply chain disruptions, and political frictions (especially between the US and China), chip makers have been unable to meet manufacturers’ orders, especially in simpler, lower-margin semiconductors. President Biden has earmarked $50 billion as part of his infrastructure plan to boost America’s semiconductor industry, but with new fabrication plants at least two years down the pipeline industry executives expect the shortage to continue into at least next year. As the world’s fourth most-traded commodity (behind only crude oil, refined oil, and cars), engineers on both sides of the supply chain are seeking new avenues – from chip producers auditing customer orders to prevent hoarding to industrial companies designing products with backward compatibility to allow old chips to be used in new devices. Some companies are even putting up collateral to ensure their delivery is prioritized. With limited capacity in chip fabricators, many have had to make a dangerous bet on whether the elevated demand levels will continue, or if the current shortage will die out. With semiconductors more and more prevalent in all aspects of life, the former seems more likely.

A Dark Pandemic Year Could Still Portend a Brighter Future

Charles Kenny, Foreign Affairs

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Signs of growth in the world’s two largest economies – the US and China – indicate that the world may be on its way to a strong recovery. The vaccine rollout is poised to be the fastest in history which will, in turn, fast-track the global recovery. Between the various vaccines that have been developed and the many manufacturers who have made vaccine commitments this year, The Duke University Global Health Innovation Center has estimated that enough vaccines will be produced in 2021 to cover 70% of the global population. If the vaccine rollout progresses as expected and new variants don’t significantly derail recovery efforts, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts the global economy will grow 5.5% in 2021 and 4.2% in 2022. The IMF is also planning to print “special drawing rights” (SDRs), which countries can exchange for dollars, euros, and yen, to boost the global economy. The pandemic has also brought about new technologies and innovations which can increase global welfare and productivity. For example, the messenger RNA technology used to create several Covid-19 vaccines is now being used to develop vaccines for other diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. The remote-work trend that has been spurred on by the pandemic has led to the creation of a variety of new services, allowing a new generation of global entrepreneurs to emerge. While there have been many negative effects from the pandemic, including massive unemployment, education losses, and unsustainable levels of debt, providing assistance to the groups most disadvantaged by the pandemic will ensure a more equal global recovery.