Here in Europe we’re yet to suffer any significant casualty. They will come. We’re wondering, though, why things are going down the drain so fast in the US. Rent is not the only explanation – it’s a problem in most major cities. New York is obviously on a different planet but so is London. What other factors are at play? Are you just quicker to cut your losses and move on to the next thing? Are people in Europe more willing to wait and see if they can save their businesses?
Anyway, I would not be talking about a major extinction just yet. These things never play out the way we think they will. ‘Les années folles’ weren’t ‘crazy’ because everyone stayed home after the Spanish flu – the pandemic reportedly killed more than 200,000 britons and yet by 1920, you couldn’t keep Londoners indoors.