BNP Paribas: Will COVID-19 lead to sustainable change?

The COVID-19 pandemic has led the world into the largest social distancing experiment in history.  A USD 2 trillion US government stimulus programme and US Treasury yields below 1% are all the result of the crisis. In addition, oil prices have fallen to below USD 20 a barrel as demand destruction has exacerbated the effects of a collapse in OPEC’s pricing policy. Will the world go back to ‘status quo’ when we exit this dislocation? Probably not. We believe the learnings from the ‘go-remote’ experiment are here to stay. The implications for the future of energy, real estate, work, education, health care delivery and so forth are vast.