The “Great Lockdown” has been described as the worst recession since the Great Depression and certainly is much worse than the Global Financial Crisis. Most countries around the world will have largely emptied their coffers, and borrowed heavily, to fund strategies to support their businesses and workers. Back in April 2020, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast that the cumulative loss to global GDP over 2020 and 2021 from the pandemic crisis could be around US $9 trillion, greater than the economies of Japan and Germany combined, but the latest information suggests that this is optimistic.

Many consequences arise from these changes including health, financial, and social. In this last area, some key changes have occurred in the way in which businesses work. This is probably best viewed as an acceleration of the trend towards remote working and digital engagement. For many businesses, the period of lockdown signalled an imperative “go digital, or go dark”.

In this webinar hosted by the University of Auckland Law School, four experts discuss the future of law in a COVID world.

This webinar features:

Craig Elliffe, Professor of Law at the University of Auckland.

Prasanna Gai, Professor in Economics at the University of Auckland.

Sasha Daniels, an in-house lawyer at Spark New Zealand.

Jennifer Caldwell, a lawyer at Buddle Findlay.


For more of our audio and visual content, check out our YouTube channel, or head to the University of Auckland’s manuscripts and archives collection.

For more information on COVID-19, head to the Ministry of Health website.

Disclaimer: The ideas expressed in this discussion reflect the views of the guests and not necessarily the views of The Big Q. 

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