This thing is going to chance society.
I'm looking at this from my point of view. Many lawyers do traffic law. For some it's part of their business, for some it's all of their business. There is literally no traffic in Belgium now though. Which means no accidents, no fines, no court cases. If this lasts 3-4 months, you can bet many firms are going to feel this and will have to cut people.
And then there's the fact that more and more people will say they can always work from home. Which again means less traffic, but not just for a few months, but indefinitely.
This is just one little aspect in one area, but I'm sure there are many similar changes in other areas.
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You act as if that's what it comes down to. It not that easy. It's not that easy at all. You as a lawyer should know we can write books about this debate.
Are courts even in session in Belgium or did they close as well? That's also a loss of revenue to the government.
I think you're right. We are moving forward with projects at my work with clients who are used to operating only in person. If things go smoothly, and folks realize hey, we don't need to be face to face all the time, more companies will move to remote work. And from a cost-savings perspective, it makes total sense. Why spend thousands or millions in fixed assets when you may only need one building for a headquarters with a few meeting rooms.
I also hope that this disaster is a catalyst to push people more towards being health and hygiene conscious. Sadly, many of the young folks dying from Covid seem to struggle with obesity, or other conditions, from what I have seen in the news. Apart from that, Americans need to be more self-aware with respect to hygiene, such as sneezing into your sleeve and keeping spaces clean. It shouldn't be hard, but it is for some people. It should move us to change culture because nobody wants to be sick, covid or no covid.