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Elena Carletti, Marco Pagano, Lorina Pelizzon, and Marti Subrahmanyam Various proposals have recently been put forward to funnel liquidity to businesses before they are forced to lay off employees, cancel their supplies, and eventually close their doors. This column calls for coordinated intervention at the European level, through the creation of a pan-European equity fund, […] 

Sam Hanson, Jeremy Stein, Adi Sunderam, and Eric Zwick We propose that the government provide business continuity support, allowing businesses to meet their recurring fixed obligations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal is to avoid a large wave of bankruptcies and preserve firm balance sheets to set the stage for a strong economic recovery once […] 

James Stock et al Testing for SARS-CoV-2 in the United States is currently targeted to individuals whose symptoms and/or jobs place them at a high presumed risk of infection. An open question is, what is the share of infections that are undetected under current testing guidelines? To answer this question, we turn to COVID-19 testing […] 

Camille Landais, Emmanuel Saez, and Gabriel Zucman European governments have reacted swiftly to the COVID crisis and are now discussing ways to mutualise the cost of the epidemic. This column proposes the creation of a progressive, time-limited, European-wide progressive wealth tax assessed on the net worth of the top 1% richest individuals. If fighting COVID-19 […] 

Jean-Pierre Danthine, et al Due to COVID-19, large parts of the world economy are being put on hold by government fiat. We argue that – on efficiency as well as equity grounds – the state should generously support not only labour but also capital costs, the latter through ex ante partially reimbursable, rapidly disbursed ‘corona […] 

Even if tests for Covid-19 are being rationed, there is an urgent need for some random testing to establish baseline levels of the virus to inform any decisions about ending lockdowns. Required elements for an economic ‘restart’ after lockdowns include a massive increase in testing capacity (for infections and antibodies) along with a coherent strategy […] 

The lockdowns in place around the world to limit the contagion of Covid-19 have been implemented without reliable information on the spread of the disease or the prevalence of the novel coronavirus in the population. We invited our panel to express their views on the role of testing for infections and antibodies to inform decisions about easing measures on social distancing and allowing public activities to restart. 

SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED Angus Deaton Perhaps Covid-19 will reverse the rising inequality of recent decades. If so, these effects of the virus are unlikely to last. Historical evidence from earlier epidemics shows that, in the early stages, when diseases are new or poorly understood, the rich and powerful are not exempt. Over time, that changes. Read […] 

Agnes Benassy-Quere et al. There are now several proposals for complementing the vigorous decision of the ECB to launch a mega ‘pandemic emergency purchase programme’ with fiscal and financial initiatives at the European level. These proposals sometimes overlap, which is a good sign of convergence. This column argues that they are also largely complementary to […]