By Jenn Goodman | ConstructionDive
President Donald Trump’s decision this week to extend the country’s social distancing guidelines until April 30 was based partly on data from statistical models that predict the peaks and plateaus of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S.
Models like these are also useful in forecasting when the economy will get back on track, according to a presenter at a Design-Build Institute of America webinar this week. Keith Prather, market intelligence expert for Olathe, Kansas-based business management consulting firm Pioneer IQ, developed the Fear and Recovery Curve model to help indicate when the crisis will top out and when it will begin to recede.
He told attendees that the U.S. economy will get back to normal sooner rather than later and downplayed some analysts’ views that the outbreak could keep businesses sidelined until early next year.