COVID-19

Nicholas Bloom, Philip Bunn, Scarlet Chen, Paul Mizen, Pawel Smietanka The spread of COVID-19 has created an important new source of concern for firms. This column reports the findings of the latest Decision Maker Panel survey of UK CFOs, which show that businesses expected the spread of the virus to have a large impact on […] 

Kenneth L Judd and Karl Schmedders The Senate Covid-19 bill does not offer a coherent rescue plan based on sound economic principles. The key policy goal at this point must be to get cash to corporations quickly, but do so in a manner that does not create new financial problems, does not interfere with corporate […] 

Elena Carletti, Jan Pieter Krahnen et al The COVID-19 pandemic has massive detrimental economic effects and demands immediate policy actions to prevent a financial or debt crisis. This SAFE policy letter from the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research argues that while the fiscal policy responses in Europe have some merit in the short term, they […] 

Jean-Pierre Danthine A large part of the Swiss economy is now at a standstill. How can we prevent this temporary standstill, which will inevitably manifest itself in a decline in GDP over one or two semesters (and thus presumably in a technical recession), from being followed by lasting negative consequences for our material wellbeing? Read […] 

Elena Carletti, Jan Pieter Krahnen, et al The virus epidemic carries the risk of a financial pandemic, which may even spiral into a global phenomenon. This SAFE policy letter from the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research argues for some form of a joint and mutual insurance scheme at the European level, compensating firms for crisis-induced […] 

James H. Stock This note lays out the basic SIR epidemiological model of contagion, with a target audience of economists who want a framework for understanding the effects of social distancing and containment policies on the evolution of contagion and interactions with the economy. The model is calibrated to the most recent data, however it […] 

Pinelopi Goldberg We need more data before deciding how to proceed, and we need the data to be presented in an objective, impartial, and constructive way. Complacency in the current circumstances would be disastrous. But so would be mass hysteria fueled by misinformation or misrepresentation of statistics. Read more> 

Francesco Giavazzi and Guido Tabellini This war-like shock will require very large fiscal support. Its financing cost should be distributed over several generations. This can be achieved by issuing irredeemable or very long maturity Eurobonds. They should be backed by the ECB to keep the financing burden low. This column argues that no institutional or […] 

Sendhil Mullainathan and Richard H. Thaler Two economists suggest suspending these 5 types of regulations because they are slowing the medical response to the pandemic. And they are asking for more ideas. Read more> 

Aaron Edlin The new stimulus plan is likely to be ineffective or even counterproductive by accelerating the spread of the coronavirus: Aaron Edlin, director of the Law, Economics, and Politics Center (LEAP) at Berkeley School of Law argues that much more of the money should be spent on increasing healthcare capacity, which may be a […]