It feels like there has been less going on this week, maybe it was just the aftermath of the various announcements easing restrictions or just in comparison with previous weeks, but it did feel like there was less happening.
Certainly, there has still been the stream of negative economic news, with job loss announcements, and economic gloom. Consumers are spending and borrowing less, all of which will gradually flow through the economy too.
In the business world they continue to thinkg about the future, with digital investment top of mind. There was even an interesting story of interest rates going negative, not notionally, but actually negative. How the financial services systems would or could have even reacted to this would have no doubt been a topic of conversation… it could have been another Year2K, albeit now less likely.
Outside of economics, the talk seems to be about returning to normal. The pandemic is still for from over, and it is likely to continue for some time (36months – and this is also the simple maths too).
However something this week switched and the narrative moved to normalization. Businesses are planning on returning and even trains running. Dentists clearly need to open too.
Maybe we have become used to the health toll, the economic impact has become too big and we have blinked, we are just getting bored, or history is simply repeating itself. Caution abounds however and we need to remain careful.
Have a good weekend everyone…. @chris_w_tweet
