Efficiency vs. Resilience

As I am writing these lines, in mid-March 2020, COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus virus, is spreading around the world. From a local epidemic that broke out in China in late 2019, the disease has turned into a raging pandemic the likes of which the world has not seen since the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic. Thousands have already died, and the ultimate death toll may be in the millions. Attempting to mitigate the pandemic, individuals are curtailing travel, entertainment, and more, as well as exercising "social distancing," thus causing an economic slowdown. Businesses hoard cash and cut spending in order to survive a slowdown of uncertain duration.