It is the eternal mystery – the days are long, but the years are short – and 2021 is no exception, with the months whizzing by and the mid-year already here. History will likely remember 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic year, and 2021 as the recovery year. The health recovery is clearly underway, thanks to vaccines. Yet vaccination rates vary widely country by country. Politics is a factor, along with suspicion about treatments that were developed so quickly. The economic recovery is equally underway, aided by government stimulus. People-facing industries are seeing a return to something like the pre-pandemic normal, although a shortage of workers is slowing the process. And it’s not just workers that are in short supply; everything from semiconductors to bricks are subject to lengthening lead times, with subsequent price rises leading many to fret about the inflationary implications.