He told the room of business leaders that while the world is learning to live with COVID-19 and even with the new omicron variant, things will not revert back to the way they were in March 2020 before the pandemic began.
“So we’re getting to the point where COVID is going to be out there but we’re going to feel much more comfortable living our lives because we’re going to be able to effectively manage its effects,” he said. “We have a completely different toolkit than we did in March 2020 that’s going to allow us to adapt appropriately.”
What will be an interesting dynamic that business leaders may see play out over the next year, however, is that while North America has loosened up on its COVID-19 restrictions, other places such as South Korea, China and Japan have tightened theirs.
“But I suspect, you’ll start to see, particularly once some of these antivirals and other things come onto the market, even the Asian countries beginning to open up,” he said.
With government stimulus packages and Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act money, businesses and individuals alike sat on more money this past year. They weren’t spending it on travel, putting on events or going out to eat, so some spent it online.
“And so we’ve started just sucking in all of these goods, but that’s had an interesting impact,” Mellott said. “As consumers [are] sucking in goods, businesses are also investing at a high rate. So lots of cash on the balance sheet and people are starting to spend. What does that translate to? It translates to really eye-wateringly good growth.”
