ALLINA MAE I.

PONGAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

BSA-1A 9:00-10:30/ TF

BALANCE BETWEEN HEALTH AND ECONOMY

(New normal after COVID-19 pandemic)

What’s more important a country should consider in order to ensure growth stability and
development, is health or the economy? The smartest economist and even a simple citizen of a
country wouldn’t answer neither health nor economy alone. They would definitely answer both
of the choices should be considered. After reading “Naked Economics” I can also say that the
balance between health and economy in a certain country is necessary in times of facing a
pandemic that would create a great impact and change in the world’s economy as well as the
normal living of the people. Leaders must learn from the pandemic on how to position their
country to thrive in the next crisis.

It has been approximately five months since the COVID-19 pandemic started in China,
and only weeks since the virus began spreading rapidly in other countries across the globe.
Although this has occurred in a much more compressed time frame than other historic events that
have become major economic reference points, it’s likely that we will see changes in the
economic growth similar to those that resulted from the Great Depression of the 1930s and the
Great Recession of the late 2000s in the United States. In order to combat the rapidly spreading
of the disease and to reopen the economy in the COVID-19 era, countries around the globe
especially the countries that are severely affected by the pandemic engaged and adapt the said
“New Normal”. One of the quotes in the book that rings a bell to me when it comes to this
another phase in our lives is that economics starts with one very important assumption:
Individuals act to make themselves as well off as possible. Economists would definitely accept
that each of us has his or her own preferences and in this time of pandemic that we’re facing,
health and how we can survive are our top concerns.

In the New Normal people were advised to maintain social distancing, wear face masks
every time they go out of their houses, mass temperature checks, avoid social gatherings and
crowded places, take responsibility for their own health and that of those around them and many
more safety precautions that is necessary. In the case of weighing these risks with regards to the
health of people, many sectors would be greatly affected like the sector of employment,
education, human labor, health, and business which are great contributors and factors in the
development and growth of a country. It takes time for business and society to settle into a new
normal following a large scale economic disruption. This will cause the shifts in consumer
demand which will require expansion in some industries and contraction in others. Future growth
in consumer spending is likely to be slower than it has been for many years. Increased
government regulation of gig and other non-regular work will require adaptation and changes in
work practices. The disruptions in face-to-face work will be a drag on economic efficiency,
leading to slower growth in revenues, lower profit margins, and reduced cash flow. Regular
school classes will be staggered and there will be smaller class sizes than the normal school days
we had normally experienced which will most likely create a disparity in the learning outcomes
of the students especially in literacy and quality of education. Re-opening in the COVID-19 era
enforcing the new normal for everyone would be hard but we will get to it for our safety.

Balance between health and economy. In sum, that is the elusive formula that could be
key to winning the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The new normal would not definitely
look normal to most of us but we have to slowly adapt into it because everything we have now is
uncertain. We don’t know how much more pervasive impact this crisis will bring us and how
quickly the economy will recover once we get “on the other side and flatten the curve” of the
contagion and the enormous pressures it has placed on our health care system. We have to take
action without risking the health and safety of everyone.