“We closed [the economy] down and now we’re reopening, and we’re doing record business,” President Donald Trump said during the first presidential debate of 2020.
He wasn’t alone in celebrating the surprising “recovery” after months of lockdowns and harsh restrictions. Economist Martin A. Sullivan told Forbes that “the snapback was almost as remarkable as the decline.”
But politicians and economists who want to mark lockdowns as economically successful don’t talk about the downside we’ve experienced in the interim between lockdowns and the imminent recession: how miserable the consumer experience has been. This experience isn’t as acutely painful as the oppressive lockdowns and mandates themselves, but it should nevertheless remind us that the economy can’t be “switched off” without consequences.
The employment rate may have technically bounced back, but other parts of the economy’s complex machinery, like supply chains rattled by lockdowns in other countries and trucking shortages, haven’t operated smoothly since before lockdowns. Going by a plethora of anecdotal evidence, quality of service has declined across many sectors, probably in part due to the Great Resignation that saw millions drop out of the workforce and take their job competence with them. Not only that, but the high number of remote workers feel disengaged from the mission and purpose of their companies. Apathy adversely affects performance.
Think about the customer experiences you’ve had in the past week, month, year, three years. We are paying much more for most things and buying from organizations that are harder to work with.
