Dear Marc Herb,

Since the SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) pandemic affects various spheres of people's lives in a certain way, the functioning of companies and institutions operating in various industries and sectors of the economy, the image of the world after the pandemic in the past may be significantly different from the present state.

Many economic data show that the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus causing the Covid-19 disease pandemic on the global economy is very large. Various sectors and industries are currently experiencing a large decline in production and consumption triggered by the SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) coronavirus pandemic. The worst negative downturn has already occurred in the tourism, hotel and related services sectors. In addition, in many countries, the export of food products and highly processed products in processes in which various enterprises participate in a complex, multi-stage production process characterized by a complex logistic chain of interconnected many economic entities is falling. In some countries there was a recession in the economy and a large increase in unemployment. It is now known that in 2020 it will not be trade wars that will be the main factor behind the decline in international trade, international capital flows and other production factors, and international economic cooperation. In 2020, the main factor behind the decline in international trade, international capital flows and other factors of production, international economic cooperation, etc., will be the development of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic (causing the Covid-19 disease). The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic also affects logistic processes and chains. For example, if due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, international and intermodal logistics chains have been temporarily disrupted, some production processes may be transferred to other countries. This may lead to a situation where international corporations, which divided their production processes in previous years into stages carried out in plants and factories located in other countries, now due to problems related to supply logistics, may return to the concept of concentration of all manufacturing processes in the same countries, in the countries where the company is located or in countries located far less distant from each other. This can lead to a situation that many factories will return from developing countries to developed countries despite slightly or much higher production costs. In this way, the risk of supply, supply logistics, etc. will be significantly reduced. If this type of international economic processes will be carried out on a large scale in the coming months and years, then the processes of economic globalization will reverse. In my opinion, the most significant change in logistics can be caused by the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic in the situation of long, complex, intermodal, international logistics supply and sourcing chains operating so far. In addition, the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the digitization of the economy. In the first half of 2020, in many industries and sectors, more and more companies are expanding their activities via the Internet, providing their services remotely and selling their products via e-commerce. Many companies that previously did not do this are now switching to remote, electronic operations via the Internet. The importance of internet marketing is increasing, including viral marketing, Real-Time marketing conducted on social media portals. The development of electronic banking is also increasing, including internet and mobile banking. Therefore, traditional logistics can also be increasingly replaced by logistic business models in which some or all components of logistics processes are carried out via the Internet. In such a situation, the importance of e-logistics is growing. However, in traditional production, supply and distribution logistics, the pandemic could also bring about significant changes. Recently, in some forms of discussion, there have been considerations on possible and real positive aspects of the development of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic. Of course, there are many negative effects in various spheres of human life and the functioning of many economic entities and public institutions. But on the other hand, in each crisis, an attempt is also made to find specific aspects, effects that can be interpreted as positive. The positive aspects of a pandemic are mainly, usually, an increase in people's interest in a healthy, pro-ecological lifestyle. People have increased their interest in factors influencing the increase of the body's immunity, eg healthy eating, smoking cessation, etc. In addition, there is growing interest in the issues of sustainable development, environmental protection and biodiversity. In view of the above, the positive aspects of the pandemic seem to be few, but they are perceived and very important. The positive aspects of the SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) coronavirus pandemic include, first of all, a significant decrease in environmental pollution in many regions of the world that are highly industrialized and urbanized, however, during the pandemic, many companies reduced the scale of their economic activity and consumption raw materials, including energy, etc. In addition, consumption also decreased, so the amount of waste and rubbish also decreased. Air and car traffic decreased, which also significantly improved air quality. In some parts of the world, a significant improvement in the quality of air and water has been noticed, therefore, positive effects of nature revival in industrial and civilization degraded areas have been noticed. In addition, the pro-ecological awareness of citizens is growing, including the need to protect the natural environment and protect the biodiversity of natural ecosystems. In my opinion, the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic (causing the Covid-19 disease) has changed the socio-economic scenario in many countries in such a way that the economic slowdown caused by the pandemic is activated, revived by anti-crisis, interventionist enterprise support programs as part of public aid as essential elements of socio-economic policy. In some countries, these anti-crisis programs of non-returnable subsidies for business entities, tax breaks and temporary exemptions from paying social security contributions are referred to as the so-called Anti-crisis shields. Both the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic, introduced in the period of March - June 2020 in many countries, anti-epemic safety instruments (e.g. home quarantine, wearing protective masks, frequent washing of hands, also temporary restrictions on the movement of people in public places, closed shopping centers, services, some shops, cinemas, theaters, museums, city parks, etc.) as well as anti-crisis programs to support enterprises from the funds of the state public finance system, to a large extent change the scenario of the socio-economic development of many countries, including globally. Unfortunately, during the anti-crisis activation of economic growth, the suggestions and recommendations of scientists and researchers were often forgotten, who already about 10 years ago in their publications indicated various, not only financial and economic aspects, effects of the previous global financial crisis in 2008. For many years, scientists and researchers have been pointing to growing problems and crises of a natural, climatic, ecological, etc. nature, which are indirectly related to the economic aspects of financial and economic crises. During the anti-crisis, interventionist enterprise support programs implemented in 2020 in many countries within the framework of state aid, which play the role of important elements of socio-economic policy, the need for urgent transformation of traditional economies of surplus, functioning in accordance with the principles of mainly classical economy, postulated for many years in the scientific community, was forgotten or ignored. towards sustainable economies of moderation, based on corporate social responsibility, developed in accordance with the concept of green economy and circular economy, including, inter alia, through the implementation of ecological innovations to various aspects of economic activity, the implementation of a pro-ecological energy transformation through the development of renewable energy sources, etc. Therefore, the world after the SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) coronavirus pandemic will look significantly different than today. I wrote more about this in my comments and replies on my Research Gate discussion forum profile. I invite you to research cooperation.

Best regards,

Dariusz Prokopowicz