From health emergency to global economic shock?
The world economy was fragile even before the COVID-19 outbreak. The trade war between the US and China, coupled with rising geopolitical tensions, had taken a toll on global trade which had hitherto driven globalisation. China, the world’s factory, was seeing a hollowing out of manufacturing and the off-shoring of manufacturing production in the wake of the trade war and rising wages. Europe was hampered by uncertainties in the Brexit process and weak business investment. Japan, at the frontier of a super-ageing population and a consumption tax hike, was confronting sluggish growth. All of these were happening when India was slowed by distress in rural areas, weighed down by the lingering effects of demonetarisation and a general sales tax. Other developing economies saw capital outflows amidst rising debt levels.
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/the-truth-about-the-global-economy-as-revealed-by-coronavirus/