International cooperation against the epidemic should increase
Prof. Şevket Pamuk has been a guest speaker at the opening lecture of 2020-2021 academic year of Faculty of Business, Izmir University of Economics (IUE), one of the most preferred faculty by students nationwide with 100 percent occupancy rate this year. Delivering a speech titled "The Epidemic and Economy", Prof. Pamuk said that the world is faced with a stubborn virus that does not tolerate any mistakes, and that international cooperation against the epidemic should increase.
The opening lecture, an event which took place for the first time and intended to be traditionalized at IUE Faculty of Business which started the new academic year via distance education due to Covid-19, was carried out via Blackboard Collaborate system that is offered by limited number of universities in Turkey. The opening speech was delivered by IUE Vice Rector Prof. Çiğdem Kentmen. Prof. Çin stated that the academic year openings were held with the leading names of politics and the academic world, but these events could not be held this year due to the epidemic. Prof. Çin said, “I believe that opening lectures will make the academic discussion environment more meaningful and create meetings in a different and impartial environment. I wish all of us a healthy, productive, successful academic year without any bad surprises.”
A STUBBORN VIRUS THAT DOES NOT TOLERATE ANY MISTAKES
Delivering a speech titled "The Epidemic and Economy", Prof. Pamuk said that we are faced with a stubborn virus which does not tolerate any mistakes, that is encountered once in a hundred years, and it is not easy to talk about its effects because such events are not common. Emphasizing that global epidemics have great effects on health and economy, and they are always unequal, Prof. Pamuk said, “Today, there are uncertainties about how long the epidemic will last. These uncertainties focus around vaccination. It is not possible to predict the duration of the epidemic. The virus continues to enforce its own rules. There are great uncertainties about how the vaccine will be found and where it will spread. This situation will create inequalities.”
IT HAD DIFFERENT EFFECTS
Stating that in about 8 months after the epidemic, the history of the world will not be completely re-established, but many things will not be the same as before, Prof. Pamuk said that different effects emerged in the world and in Turkey. Pointing out that international cooperation against the epidemic is weak and stating that this should increase, Prof. Pamuk stated that globalization would stumble. Prof. Pamuk said, “The epidemic takes longer than initial estimates. It turns out that the epidemic negatively affects investments worldwide, increasing unemployment and poverty. Economists focus on the demand shock while examining the epidemic. The epidemic did not affect every sector in the same way. While agriculture and industry are less affected, its effects are stronger in the service sector. Restaurants, hotels, tourism sector, transportation, airlines are among the sectors most affected.”
