StraightTalk^® Powering Growth: Postpandemic Recovery & Risks

Goods consumption and foreign trade are fueling the global economic recovery from the pandemic-induced recession. However, these two components of growth cannot continue to drive the rebound. Perpetuating the global economic recovery requires a return to more balanced growth in which services consumption and business investment play more prominent roles. Basic solutions to achieving this goal include further removal of restrictions on mobility and broader distribution of vaccines across the globe. Free movement of people, goods, services, and money are also key to restoring the global economy. Finally, careful calibration by central banks and governments is required for removing extraordinary monetary and fiscal policy accommodation without disrupting the global revival or financial markets. Nonetheless, a variety of factors might inhibit continuation of the positive drivers of the revival and prevent successful rotation toward more sustainable global economic activity. Firms must be aware of these inhibitors and develop strategies to navigate what might result in a protracted and uneven global economic revival.