History has a funny way of repeating itself. 100 years ago America experienced one of the most lavish and economically prosperous decades in its history. The “Roaring Twenties” was an era of mass consumerism, cultural expansion, extravagant partying, and of course prohibition. It began right after another global pandemic ended, The Spanish Flu.
Dr Nicholas Christakis, a Yale University professor, and social epidemiologist has predicted that once the COVID-19 pandemic is over, America will experience a similar “Roaring 20s.” He details this prediction in his latest book, Apollo’s Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live.
Instead of all of us being risk-averse and saving our money, we will party like never before. I think we all can agree we are ready for festivals again, and ready to go to a lot of them. Unfortunately, Dr Nicholas Christakis doesn’t believe the modern-day “Roaring 20s” will begin until 2024. Vaccine distribution is only just beginning and it will take months for the majority of the population to receive it. There will be lasting social, psychological, and economic impacts that we can’t even comprehend yet.
Dr Christakis believes it will take one to two years for the population as a whole to recover from the pandemic. He has a few other interesting predictions: there will be a birth spike, handshaking will be much less common (spitting was very common before The Spanish Flu but almost entirely went away afterward), and working from home could become the norm.
Time will tell if his predictions hold to be true. I don’t think any of us would mind another Roaring 20s. It would be a time of wild partying and freedom. Let’s just hope it is not followed by another major historical event, The Great Depression.
