COVID-19: The return of the state

The fast view

• The response to the COVID-19 pandemic has seen governments intervene in economies, financial markets and everyday life with unprecedented speed and reach. The experience of the crisis and the public policy transformation it has brought about amount to a reordering of the social contract.
• Previously unthinkable policies have become the accepted, common sense solutions to new problems, fundamentally altering the way governments approach public health policy, resilience planning and surveillance of the population.
• Burning issues around inequality, employment practices and the role of the corporation in society have been thrown into sharp relief by the uneven way in which the impact of the crisis has been felt and will remain at the top of the political agenda for the foreseeable future.
• There are complex policy decisions to be made in all of these areas but in each case, the most readily available remedies share an expanded view of the role of government.

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