Recovery

In times of crisis lies opportunity. Recovery shows us how we can build back better after COVID-19.

We have recovered from many crises in the past- war, depression, pandemic, natural disaster. Often, we've bounced back to create an even better future. The Spanish Flu was followed by the economic prosperity of the Roaring Twenties. In the decades following World War II, the German economy grew to the world's most advanced. In the United States, social and economic policies responding to the Great Depression laid the foundations for twentieth-century prosperity.

As we contemplate recovery from the COVID-19 health and economic crisis while confronting the climate emergency, what can we learn from other recoveries? Through interviews with experts, policymakers and community leaders, this book examines past recoveries and investigates implications for the future. It explores what went well, what we should do differently and what the lessons might be for the recovery ahead of us.

With governments prepared to lead, listen to experts and involve communities in decision-making, not only is a successful recovery possible - we can also choose to re-evaluate many of the things we thought were fixed. We have an opportunity to build back better.

About the Author

Andrew Wear is a senior Australian public servant. He has degrees in politics, law, economics and public policy, and is a graduate of the Senior Executive Program at Harvard Kennedy School. A fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia, he is also a director of Ardoch Ltd, a children's education charity. His work appears in peer-reviewed journals as well as in The Mandarin, The Guardian and others.