Here Are The Biggest Risks To Derail An Economic Recovery In 2021, Goldman Sachs Warns

Here Are The Biggest Risks To Derail An Economic Recovery In 2021, Goldman Sachs Warns

Topline

As the United States races to distribute vaccines amid a winter surge in Covid-19 cases and lawmakers weigh another tranche of federal stimulus spending, analysts from investment giant Goldman Sachs are pointing to three major risks that could jeopardize the strong economic recovery and robust consumer spending boom they're predicting in 2021.

Volunteers from the Los Angeles Food Bank help load boxes of food into vehicles after drivers ... [+] check-in on arrival in Sylmar, California on January 21, 2021.



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Key Facts





The most severe risk, the analysts said, is the emergence of a coronavirus variant that is resistant to the vaccines that have already been developed, meaning that government virus spending would skyrocket again and the recovery would be put on ice while a new vaccine is developed.





In that scenario, the analysts predict that any progress towards herd immunity would be “lost or severely set back” and as a result, consumer spending wouldn't recover until 2022.





The analysts note that this extreme scenario doesn't factor into their baseline forecasts