THE BUTLER COUNTY TIMES-GAZETTE (KANSAS) -- “The virus will end, we’ll have a vaccine in 12 to 18 months, but what will the world economy look like after 12 to 18 months of stagnation, let alone if the virus comes back?” says Jerald Combs, professor emeritus of History at San Francisco State University and author of “The History of American Foreign Policy from 1895.”
Combs says that as the virus cripples supplier countries such as India and China, U.S. manufacturing ultimately will have to find new ways to make products or face economic hardships. Such adjustments could be required of American companies for years, given it remains unknown whether today’s viral threat is an aberration or a preview of what’s to come.
“World War II had a huge impact on American society in so many ways, but they had one advantage over what we’re dealing with,” Combs says. “They knew at some point the war would end. We, on the other hand, are still not sure.”