New normal

Usage history

World War I

In 1918, Henry A. Wise Wood posted a dilemma,

Dot-com bubble

The phrase was extensively used by Roger McNamee in his 2003 interview to Fast Company while describing the new normal in technology development in regards to business and finance after the dot-com bubble bust,

2005 avian influenza

The phrase was used in 2005 by Peter M. Sandman and Jody Lanard in relation to methods of manipulation of attitudes of the public towards avian influenza. They explained that the initial, typically temporary, fearfulness of a novel risk such as a flu pandemic is something to be guided, that this initial period is a "teachable moment" and offers the opportunity of establishing a "new normal".

2008 financial crisis

The phrase was used in the context of cautioning the belief of economists and policy makers that industrial economies would revert to their most recent means after the 2008 financial crisis.

The 29 January 2009 edition of the Philadelphia City Paper quoted Paul Glover referring to the need for "new normals" in community development, when introducing his cover story "Prepare for the Best".

The 2010 Per Jacobsson lecture delivered by Mohamed A. El-Erian at the International Monetary Fund, was titled "Navigating the New Normal in Industrial Countries". In the lecture El-Erian stated that "Our use of the term was an attempt to move the discussion beyond the notion that the crisis was a mere flesh wound...instead the crisis cut to the bone. It was the inevitable result of an extraordinary, multiyear period which was anything but normal". El-Erian's lecture cites a 18 May 2008 Bloomberg News article written by journalists Rich Miller and Matthew Benjamin for first using the term: "Post-Subprime Economy Means Subpar Growth as New Normal in U.S."

The phrase has subsequently been used by ABC News, BBC News, the New York Times, and formed part of a question by Candy Crowley, the moderator of the Second U.S. presidential debate of 2012.

2012 China's economic slowdown

Main article: New normal (China)

Since 2012, China's economy has shown a marked slowdown, with growth rates declining from double digit levels (before the 2008 financial crisis) to around 7% in 2014. In 2014, a statement by Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, indicated that China was entering a 'new normal' (). This term was subsequently popularised by the press and came to refer to expectations of 7% growth rates in China for the foreseeable future. It was indicative of the Chinese government's anticipation of moderate but perhaps more stable economic growth in the medium-to-long term.

COVID-19 pandemic

During the earlier parts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the term new normal was used to refer to changes in human behavior during the pandemic or speculated changes after the pandemic.

In May 2020, physicians at the University of Kansas Health System predicted that daily life for most people would change during the pandemic after the lifting of lockdowns. This would include limiting person-to-person contact, like handshakes and hugs, as well as maintaining distance from others, known as social distancing. They predicted things would change again after vaccines became available.

In Europe, the term "new normal", first conceptualized in 2018 by Austrian philosopher and political scholar Paul Sailer-Wlasits, has become a popular buzzword in contemporary politics. Initially introduced in the German-speaking world, Paul Sailer-Wlasits associated the term with various phenomena, including political populism and the 45th U.S. administration under Donald Trump, which he critically dubbed the "new global normal". Since then, the phrase has gained traction among politicians in Austria, Germany, and Spain.

In Austria, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz incorporated the term into his rhetoric typically based on a few catchy buzzwords from mid-April 2020, establishing it as a new political buzzword. The Austrian media reacted critically to this, questioning whether this was intended to convey a permanent erosion of civil liberties.

Criticism

Some commentators objected of overuse and misuse of the phrase by the media while describing atypical situations or behaviors, which turned it into a cliché. Sociological research has also shown this terminology does not adequately capture societal shifts that occur during times of major disruption, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

In popular culture

• Robert A. Heinlein used the phrase in his 1966 novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, with a character telling lunar colonists:
• The New Normal is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 10, 2012, to April 2, 2013.
• A dramedy produced by Nigerian filmmaker Teniola Olatoni Ojigbede in 2020.

References

References

1. (5 June 2020). "There's nothing new about the 'new normal' - and here's why".
2. [https://books.google.com/books?id=DOxBAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22the+new+normal%22&pg=PA604 Beware!], ''N.E.L.A. Bulletin'', Volume 5, 1918, pp. 604-605
3. LaBarre, Polly. [https://www.fastcompany.com/46387/new-normal The New Normal: From Boom to Bust to War to Whatever Comes Next. Superstar investor Roger McNamee defines the new era of business and finance and shows where the smart money is headed. Here’s what you need to know about investing, competing, and winning today — and for the rest of your life], Fast Company, April 30, 2003.
4. (2005). "Bird Flu: Communicating the Risk".
5. (15 December 2010). "Navigating the New Normal in Industrial Countries". International Monetary Fund.
6. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090201080733/http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2009/01/29/gotta-find-a-better-way/ "Gotta Find a Better Way", Philadelphia City Paper, January 29, 2009] paragraph 3
7. (2008-05-18). "Post-Subprime Economy Means Subpar Growth as New Normal in U.S.".
8. Gomstyn, Alice. (15 June 2009). "Finance: Americans adapt to the 'New Normal'". ABC News.
9. (10 August 2012). "Is America's high jobless rate the new normal?". BBC News Online.
10. Johnson, Glen. (16 October 2012). "Candidates aggressive in 2nd debate". Boston Globe.
11. (2015). "China's 'New Normal': Challenges Ahead for Asia-Pacific Trade". United Nations ESCAP.
12. Saeed Elnaj. [https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/01/25/the-new-normal-and-the-future-of-technology-after-the-covid-19-pandemic/?sh=335fa35a6bbb The 'New Normal' And The Future Of Technology After The Covid-19 Pandemic], ''Forbes'', Jan 25, 2021
13. David Hochman. [https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2020/daily-life-after-pandemic-predictions.html The New Normal: What Comes After COVID-19? Experts predict how the pandemic will change our lives], ''AARP'', June 8, 2020.
14. [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-06-25/the-new-normal-after-the-coronavirus-pandemic The New Normal After the Coronavirus Pandemic], ''Bloomberg'', 2020
15. Sharon Kirkey. [https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/covid19-crisis-new-normal-coronavirus After the COVID-19 crisis ends, what does our 'new normal' look like?], national Post, May 2, 2020
16. Brian O'Keefe. [https://fortune.com/2021/02/04/covid-the-new-normal-business-leaders-economy-stock-market-technology-government-biden-democrats-congress-social-media/ What comes next: How leaders can cope with America’s ‘new normal’], ''Fortune'', February 4, 2021
17. Eric Lloyd and Kaleb Vinton. [https://www.9and10news.com/2021/02/18/the-new-normal-the-changes-that-will-outlast-covid-19/ Special Report: The New Normal – The Changes That Will Outlast COVID-19] {{Webarchive. link. (24 June 2021 , ''WWTV/WWUP-TV 9&10 News'', February 18, 2021)
18. [https://www.elon.edu/u/imagining/surveys/xii-2021/post-covid-new-normal-2025/ Survey XII: Digital New Normal 2025 – After the Outbreak: Hopes and worries for the evolution of humans and digital life in the wake of the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic], ''Elon University/Pew Research Center''
19. (May 1, 2020). "The 'new normal' after coronavirus".
20. Sailer-Wlasits, Paul. (7 September 2018). "The New Normal: Woran wir uns gewöhnen müssen".
21. Pesendorfer, David. (28 March 2021). "Der Erfinder der "Neuen Normalität"".
22. Rötzer, Florian. (10 May 2020). "Die neue Normalität: "Gewöhnt Euch dran"".
23. Münch, Peter. (12 September 2022). "Österreich: Kurz will zu "neuer Normalität" finden".
24. "Kurz neue Normalität - Google Search".
25. red, ORF at/Agenturen. (2020-04-22). "Nationalrat: Debatte über Schlagwort "neue Normalität"".
26. Catherine Rampell. [https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/11/the-new-normal-is-actually-pretty-old/ The New Normal is Actually Pretty Old], ''The New York Times'', January 11, 2011
27. Josie Cox. [https://www.forbes.com/sites/josiecox/2020/04/22/covid-19-corporate-cliche-why-we-need-to-stop-talking-about-the-new-normal/?sh=36ea0102159e COVID-19 And The Corporate Cliché: Why We Need To Stop Talking About ‘The New Normal’], ''Forbes'', April 22, 2020
28. (2023-10-21). "Creating a New Normal? Technosocial Relations, Mundane Governance and Pandemic-Related Disruption in Everyday Life". Sociology.
29. [[Robert A. Heinlein]], ''[[The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress]]'' (1966), p. 152.
30. Laura Berger. [https://womenandhollywood.com/american-black-film-fest-2020-women-directors-meet-teniola-olatoni-ojigbede-the-new-normal/ American Black Film Fest 2020 Women Directors: Meet Teniola Olatoni Ojigbede – “The New Normal”], ''Women and Hollywood'', August 24, 2020