WashU Experts

The coronavirus pandemic has shattered and shuttered businesses. As businesses gradually continue to reopen across the United States, three Olin Business School experts at Washington University in St. Louis offer insights into potential opportunities that could help businesses to emerge from the economic storm.

The Navajo Nation now has the highest rates of coronavirus infection per capita in the U.S. The people need assistance, says Wynette Whitegoat, assistant director of the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies at Washington University’s Brown School and a member of the Navajo Nation.

As areas of the country begin to relax and do away with stay-at-home orders, things will not snap back to normal for all employees and organizations. This may seem obvious, but it has huge ramifications for what employers can and should expect from employees during this time, according to an expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

With 33 million Americans unemployed and the global economy hurtling toward recession, some students may be tempted to sit out the job and internship market. But that would be a huge mistake, said Mark Smith, associate vice chancellor and dean of career services.

In the future, a global pandemic such as the magnitude of COVID-19 will not only be a foreseeable event, but also will likely change how companies model and mitigate future risks to their supply chains, says an expert on supply chain management at Washington University’s Olin Business School.

Child abuse and neglect hotlines around the country are reporting declines in calls over the last few weeks. While normally this would be welcome news, it does not bode well during stay-at-home orders, says an expert on child abuse and neglect at Washington University in St. Louis.

A $2 trillion, bipartisan relief package was signed into law on March 27 to address economic downfall fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Will it help? Research examining how households use similar payouts, like the tax refund, can help shed light on what households might do next, says an expert on asset building at Washington University’s Brown School.

As the coronavirus continues to spread across the nation, a number of false conclusions and rumors have spread with it. Three epidemiologists in public health at Washington University in St. Louis separate the truth from myth.

Many countries reacted slowly and inadequately to the spread of COVID-19. Some critics have said this is due to initial reports of the disease, which indicated that it mainly affected older populations. “Older adults are not some kind of expendable commodity,” said Nancy Morrow-Howell, the Betty Bofinger Brown Distinguished Professor of Social Policy at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis and an international leader in gerontology.

At a time when the world is focused on a global health pandemic, Brian Carpenter, a professor of psychological and brain sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, says it may be difficult to grieve for and memorialize an individual. But we must.