Five powerful forces will affect the world in 2025: Martin Wolf

Tech, inequality, debt, de-globalization and political stress to remain decisive

Government debt is now extremely cheap, with nominal and real interest rates on the sovereign debt of high-income economies at staggeringly low levels. (Source photo by Getty Images)

MARTIN WOLF, Financial Times Chief economics commentator

December 16, 2020 02:03 JST

LONDON -- COVID-19 has accelerated the world into the future. Here are five powerful forces that were at work before COVID-19, that intensified during the pandemic and will still affect the world in 2025, and far beyond.

First, technology. The march of computing and communications technology continues to reshape lives and the economy. Now, broadband communications, together with Zoom and similar videoconferencing software, has made it possible for a huge number of people to work from home.