As coronavirus cases rise, so does the economic impact from the nearly global shut down.

The world is nearly caught in a devastating recession caused by this pandemic, and new concerns are that this downturn could last longer than initially feared. 

So what kind of impact will this have on daily business across the globe?

Dr. Bob Badowksi, Chair of the School of Business at Westminster College, weighed in on the situation.

 

Where are we at in terms of a global recession? 

"Well, we're in it right now. If you ask my economist, you can't shut down the economy for that long without having repercussions."

Moving forward, what position does that put the U.S. in economically once this is all said and done?

"The problem is we don't know when we're going to get out of it. Congress passed its stimulus plan to help people and businesses move forward from this. Looking at this as a roller coaster ride, we're going up the roller coaster hill, and we don't know when the top is going to happen and when we're going to fall down. If we knew where the top was, we could make plans but, right now, we just don't know whats going on. That complicates matters in general."

How does this situation stack up against the 2008 financial crisis?

"I think with any financial crisis you learn some lessons. The 2008 crisis was based on housing and some of the things we did on our own that caused that recession. This crisis came out of nowhere. This is really nobody fault. This is more of a global thing."

How will small businesses fare once this is all over?

"It's going to depend on how people react to small businesses after this is over. If small businesses are supported and focus their energy there, then I think they'll be okay. I people are afraid of spending money or coming out of their homes still, it poses a larger challenge to small businesses."

The trade war with China had some progress being made in resolving that until this pandemic came about. Is there any point in keeping these tariffs in place or continuing on with the trade war after the country returns to some sense of normalcy?

"We still need to trade with China, whether we like to or not. We don't have the capacity right now to be able to just do things ourselves. Ultimately, we have to come up with a plan as a nation to decide if we want to manufacture those types of things we are currently getting from China or produce those things somewhere else. Right now, we are beholden to China because if we don't get it from China, we don't get it from anybody."

"Trade restrictions are tenuous as well because the U.S. is not in a great bargaining position to restrict trade any further. It has to be both ways."