Geopolitics

A) Inequality between small and large businesses

One of the economic actors greatly affected by Covid-19 are small businesses.
We will take the example of Canada
Small and medium-sized businesses are significant contributors to the Canadian economy. For
context, small businesses made up 98.1% of all employer businesses in Canada in 2021. Small
businesses employed 9.7 million individuals in Canada, about two-thirds of the total labour force, in
2021. By comparison, medium-sized businesses employed 3.2 million individuals (21.2% of the
labour force) and large businesses employed 2.3 million individuals (14.8% of the labour force). As
such, small businesses play an important role in employing Canadians and are a significant driver
towards economic recovery.
Though they are important, during covid, a certain unfairness was observed in Canada between small
and big businesses. Small businesses, who rely on customers for a primary source of income, such as
small grocery stores, were forced to close due to restrictions. While big companies, such as Walmart,
were allowed to stay open even though they could survive interrupting their activity for a while.
Differences by location and industry contributed to differences across demographic categories, with
larger declines for Asian and Black business owners.
Some small businesses found a way to partially continue their activity. One of the biggest trends to
emerge during the COVID-19 pandemic is small businesses going online and creating different
opportunities to solve many challenges. Indeed, for many small businesses, the internet remains a
lifeline, helping them to stay afloat during the pandemic.

B) Big Pharma :
Even though the public sector has invested billions more in development, the private sector
will rank in the cash. Under existing agreements they control the price and get the profits. Though part
of the funding for the vaccine research is public money, the profit stays in private hands. In 2021 the
pharmaceutical sales worldwide totalled €1,423 billion. To put this in perspective in that same year,
the luxury industry generated €269.4 billion.
In the media, many names are mentioned (Pfizer, Moderna AstraZeneca…) and people are confused
as to what role these pharmaceutical companies play in the development of the vaccine. But there are
2 major actors, which are biotech companies and the big pharmas.
First there is the “Big Pharma” which refers to the collective of pharmaceutical industry companies
(Pfizer, Roche, Johnson&Johnson…). The majority of medication we consume is shared amongst 5-
10 pharmaceutical companies.
Then we have the biotech companies (Moderna, BioNtech, Novavax, CureVac…), they specialize in
innovation. More precisely they are small companies, often young, and their job consists of coming
up with new technologies concerning medication or vaccines. For Moderna and BioNtech it’s the
messenger RNA which is considered revolutionary. Research and development is very heavy in the
cost structure of these companies. They finance it with the capital risk of public institutions or by
selling their shares on the stock exchange.
The Covid-19 market appeared to be out of reach for these biotech companies because of the billions
of doses needed. They do not possess the means to finance the research concerning the Covid vaccine,
nor the means industrialize it or market it at a global level.
This causes biotech companies to seek global or local cooperation agreements with the big pharma in
addition to the help they already get from the government. These big pharmaceutical companies have
all the means necessary (internally or thanks to a number of other small companies they collaborate
with) to handle the clinical try-outs, the production, the marketing and the distribution. This is why
BioNtech had to get an agreement with Pfizer, one of the world leaders of the pharmaceutical
industry.
Although in this Covid vaccine race a few biotech companies were the fastest to the design thanks to a
perfect alignment of the stars, the big pharma always follow shortly. Indeed, the future of the world
always includes the big pharmas.
With or without the Covid-19 virus, the money involved, the indispensable industrialization and
marketing means are so big that the biotech companies are forced to collaborate with the big pharmas
in order to produce and market their innovations. In addition to that they often end up getting bought
by those big pharmas.
Nowadays “Big pharma” also includes politicians, insurance companies and mainly anyone who
profits from prescription drugs. While there are a few different beliefs under the umbrella of the Big
Pharma conspiracy theory, the general idea is that big pharma is run by a small handful of people who
prioritise profit over human life.
Here are some of big pharma’s big hits in terms of conspiracy theories :
- HIV : It was thought to have been created in a lab by the CIA in order to eradicate black
people and members of the LBGTQ+ community though scientific facts debunk this theory.
Indeed molecular biologists have traced the origin of HIV. It was found that the virus was
created after a virus infecting monkeys mutated and became SIV. This virus then transferred
to humans and became HIV. Another fact is that it was technologically impossible to create a
virus in a lab at the time, the technology to create or recreate a virus was mad in 2002 when
the polio virus was recreated in.
- Vaccines : Vaccines have been quite the hot topic over the last few decades and with the new
pandemic the discourse around them has become even more polarising. Reportedly 20% of
Americans believe doctors hand out vaccines even though they are aware it causes autism. In
addition to that, 1/3 of Americans believe the dangers of vaccines are being kept from the
public in order for pharmacies to continue to profit.
The fear of vaccines has increased with the appearance of the Covid19. Claims concerning the
Covid-19 vaccines ranged the fact it could alternate your DNA to the fact that it installs a
microchip in your system created by Bill Gates. The vaccines were proven to be safe and
effective, but the big pharma conspiracy was fuelled by the recommendation from scientists
to get booster shots of the Covid-19 vaccine. A booster shot is a form of post vaccine upgrade
in order to keep the vaccine strong. This booster shot recommendation generated a lot of
doubts and questions within the world population. People were wondering why a booster shot
was needed if the vaccine was effective. But once again it was proved by scientists that the
vaccine, though it is effective, got weaker over time and that getting a booster shot reduces
the chances of contracting the virus and infecting other people.

Bibliography :
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https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2021001/article/00043-eng.htm
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2006991117
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/09721509211039145
https://innovation-entrepreneurship.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13731-021-00191-3
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNIViibimVU&t=343s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=ma7rf7TjXaE&list=PLpkmUfzyIRV3QW5HBhQ8rB0EJr_7SoJFo&index=4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K-EY_aV9yQ

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2006991117
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2021001/article/00043-eng.htm
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2006991117
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/09721509211039145
https://innovation-entrepreneurship.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13731-021-00191-3
https://cdn.advocacy.sba.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/02112318/COVID-19-Impact-On-Small-
Business.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNIViibimVU&t=343s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=ma7rf7TjXaE&list=PLpkmUfzyIRV3QW5HBhQ8rB0EJr_7SoJFo&index=4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K-EY_aV9yQ