Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World’s Economy

　　一部宏觀記錄2020年的出色作品，來自《崩盤：金融海嘯十年後，從經濟危機到後真相政治的不穩定世界》作者亞當．圖澤
 
　　2020年所帶來的衝擊既龐大又微小，擾亂了世界經濟、國際關係，以及我們每個人的日常生活。全球經濟從未有過在短短幾週內萎縮20%的紀錄，更未曾面臨大多數經濟體同時遭受打擊的狀況。
 
　　亞當．圖澤的上一部作品《崩盤》，帶我們看見2008年帶來的混亂，在這部新作中，他再度運用出色的分析和敘述功力，以宏觀的角度，檢視我們正在面對的危機。圖澤指出，病毒對人體和整個經濟體系的打擊同樣劇烈，死亡人數和政府、市場對於疫情作出的回應所引發的後果，一樣令人震撼，然而我們卻沒有研發出能夠處理經濟問題的「疫苗」。
 
　　圖澤在本書中檢視貨幣波動所帶來的影響、分析全球政治的變化、點出疫苗研發競賽可能帶來的其它後果，並闡述氣候變遷在疫情中扮演的角色。透過對金融和商業領域的關注，圖澤對於全世界應對疫情的不足、我們的生活和商業模式受到的傷害，提供了不同的視角。
 
　　本書是對後疫時代，我們可能面臨到的各種後續問題的珍貴預測。全球如今是一個緊密相連的體系，任何國家都無法透過單方面的封鎖，脫離這個貨物、服務、金融的全球網絡，未來人們將共同面臨那些挑戰，是我們都需要努力了解的議題。

　　(文/博客來編譯)

　　Deftly weaving finance, politics, business, and the global human experience into one tight narrative, a tour-de-force account of 2020, the year that changed everything--from the acclaimed author of Crashed.

　　The shocks of 2020 have been great and small, disrupting the world economy, international relations and the daily lives of virtually everyone on the planet. Never before has the entire world economy contracted by 20 percent in a matter of weeks nor in the historic record of modern capitalism has there been a moment in which 95 percent of the world's economies were suffering all at the same time. Across the world hundreds of millions have lost their jobs. And over it all looms the specter of pandemic, and death.

　　Adam Tooze, whose last book was universally lauded for guiding us coherently through the chaos of the 2008 crash, now brings his bravura analytical and narrative skills to a panoramic and synthetic overview of our current crisis. By focusing on finance and business, he sets the pandemic story in a frame that casts a sobering new light on how unprepared the world was to fight the crisis, and how deep the ruptures in our way of living and doing business are. The virus has attacked the economy with as much ferocity as it has our health, and there is no vaccine arriving to address that.

　　Tooze's special gift is to show how social organization, political interests, and economic policy interact with devastating human consequences, from your local hospital to the World Bank. He moves fluidly from the impact of currency fluctuations to the decimation of institutions--such as health-care systems, schools, and social services--in the name of efficiency. He starkly analyzes what happened when the pandemic collided with domestic politics (China's party conferences; the American elections), what the unintended consequences of the vaccine race might be, and the role climate change played in the pandemic. Finally, he proves how no unilateral declaration of 'independence" or isolation can extricate any modern country from the global web of travel, goods, services, and finance.