Is there any ‘new normal’? Economics of the turmoil

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world came to a standstill. Scholars and policymakers dealing with the economic consequences of the pandemic quickly realised that returning to the pre-pandemic state was impossible—the global community had been heading toward a “new normal”. Unfortunately, before we could recognise and tame the “new normal” for good, it was disrupted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent energy crises. Therefore, in the monograph’s title, we question whether any “new normal” exists. However, disruptions and shocks are unimaginable to get used to; as researchers, we believe knowledge becomes particularly valuable in such circumstances. Defining, studying and describing turmoils allow, if only to some extent, to control the damages they cause. Hence, the research presented in this book aims to identify and explore challenges at the supranational and national levels. Focusing on those challenges, we got to investigate the multidimensional impact of the pandemic shock on business reality. In doing that, we hoped to collect a valuable foundation for formulating a resilience policy, which, to be effective, must respect the peculiarity of national economies, industries, firms, and individual consumers.