US NOC: a 1980 Olympics boycott robbed hundreds of American athletes of their dreams

Nassim Taleb, Distinguished Professor of Risk Engineering, Polytechnic Faculty, NYU is best known as the author of the famous black swan theory, a metaphor that describes rare and unlikely events that have significant consequences. By the way, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic is a classic black swan event. Two years ago, the American essayist and professor took part in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, where he spoke at the Sberbank plenary session ‘Transitional World: What Will Tomorrow Bring?’

The new report by the International Monetary Fund provides an analysis of the current state of the world economy against a backdrop of today’s challenges, including the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.

International Monetary Fund experts present a study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Middle East and Central Asia region. The material addresses such aspects as internal economic activity in the region, ensuring the strength of health care systems, creating and maintaining social protection systems, and others.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2021 analyses the risks arising from societal fractures and assesses the ability of the global community to tackle the world’s greatest challenges requiring societal cohesion and global cooperation. The report also studies new risks that have emerged as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.