Epidemics lead world's biggest short-term risks - World Economic Forum

[snoop1130]

Epidemics lead world's biggest short-term risks - World Economic Forum

 

FILE PHOTO: Medical workers bring a patient out of an ambulance, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, outside Royal London Hospital, in London, Britain, January 17, 2021. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File photo

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Infectious diseases and livelihood crises led the rankings of risks expected to pose a critical threat to the world in the next two years, according to a survey of more than 650 World Economic Forum (WEF) members from business, government and academia.

 

Extreme weather events and cybersecurity failure were also key risks, WEF said in an annual risks report on Tuesday.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has already had a devastating impact on many livelihoods, as global lockdowns have led to job losses and business closures. It has also exacerbated issues such as increasing inequalities over access to technology and the threat of civil unrest.

 

"The pandemic has accelerated trends that have been coming for a long time," said Carolina Klint, risk management leader, Continental Europe, at insurance broker Marsh.

 

Medium-term worries include burst asset bubbles and debt crises, the report found, while the biggest long-term concerns were of the use of weapons of mass destruction and of state collapses.

 

"As governments, businesses and societies begin to emerge from the pandemic, they must now urgently shape new economic and social systems that improve our collective resilience and capacity to respond to shocks while reducing inequality, improving health and protecting the planet," said Saadia Zahidi, managing director at the WEF.

 

Peter Giger, chief risk officer at Zurich Insurance, remained optimistic about rebuilding after the pandemic.

 

"The history of the economy suggests that every major structural change has led to higher employment," he said.

 

The world's leaders will hold a virtual Davos Agenda event next week, instead of the traditional January event in Switzerland, and a face-to-face meeting in Singapore in May.

 

The report was compiled together with insurance companies Zurich and Marsh & McLennan and South Korea's SK Group.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-01-19

 

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[Tropicalevo]

They have ignored the biggest risk.

ie dictatorial governments using epidemics as an excuse to control the general population.

[welovesundaysatspace]

1 hour ago, Tropicalevo said:

They have ignored the biggest risk.

ie dictatorial governments using epidemics as an excuse to control the general population.

You’re reading too much sci-fi. 

[onebir]

2 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Infectious diseases and livelihood crises led the rankings of risks expected to pose a critical threat to the world in the next two years, according to a survey of more than 650 World Economic Forum (WEF) members from business, government and academia.

With the benefit of hindsight, we can see that this might have been foresight about a year ago. Now it's hardly insightful...

[KC 71]

The WEF official website certainly makes for interesting reading.

[KC 71]

1 hour ago, KC 71 said:

The WEF official website certainly makes for interesting reading.

the  WEF advert for the '8 predictions for the yr 2030' is quite interesting too.

[Stargeezr]

This pandemic is killing off a lot of people, many who were the long term tourists, who

had enough time on their hands to take a long holiday.  I guess a lot of younger people, who 

are lucky enough to be getting some sort of inheritance can afford to travel in the future.

  I do have some sadness when I see the insensitive posts of some on this forum, who must be

young. Oh well If I live another 20 years I will be happy in many ways. One big one will be that I survived

this virus.  This is a reset in a bad way. The economy will eventually recover but it will take

a long while.

Geezer