‘Pandemic isolationism’ is putting a truly global recovery at risk

For a brief spell at the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak there was a sense of international unity, but governments are now prioritising their domestic agenda. The quicker we rediscover our collective moral compass, the better, writes Paul Polman

‘As the world marks UN Social Justice Day this weekend, governments must acknowledge that looking inward is against every nation’s long-term self-interest’ (Getty Images)

At a Labor Day rally in September 1980, Ronald Reagan famously joked that “a recession is when your neighbour loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours.”

Reagan’s comic brilliance helped him win the presidency, but there is also a painful truth in his words. For many of the world’s poorest nations, the coronavirus pandemic could well end in a 1930s-style depression, whereas the developed world is better placed to bounce back.

For a brief spell at the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak there was a sense of international unity and co-operation, as countries joined together to scale medical and food supplies, pool funding for global vaccine trials and inject trillions of dollars into the world economy. But beggar thy neighbour policies are now worryingly prevalent and “pandemic isolationism” is putting what should be a truly global recovery at risk.