by Federico J. Díez, Romain Duval, Chiara Maggi and Nicola Pierri The pandemic has hit small and medium enterprises particularly hard, partly because they are predominant in some contact-intensive sectors like hotels, restaurants, and entertainment. As a result, many advanced economies risk experiencing a wave of liquidations that could destroy millions of jobs, damage the […]
Tag: Global Economy
Giving Everyone a Fair Shot
By David Amaglobeli, Vitor Gaspar, and Paolo Mauro The COVID-19 pandemic is intensifying the vicious circle of inequality. To break this pattern and give everyone a fair shot at prosperity, governments need to improve access to basic public services—such as health care (including vaccination) and education—and strengthen redistributive policies. For most countries, this would require […]
Slow-Healing Scars: The Pandemic’s Legacy
By Sonali Das and Philippe Wingender Recessions wreak havoc and the damage is often long-lived. Businesses shut down, investment spending is cut, and people out of work can lose skills and motivation as the months stretch on. But the recession brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic is no ordinary recession. Compared to previous global crises, […]
Working Out the Differences: Labor Policies for a Fairer Recovery
By John Bluedorn The COVID-19 pandemic’s destruction of jobs was sure and swift. The lasting effects of the crisis on workers could be just as painful and unequal. Youth and lower-skilled workers took some of the hardest hits on average. Women, especially in emerging market and developing economies, also suffered. Many of these workers face […]
Confronting the Hazards of Rising Leverage
By Adolfo Barajas and Fabio Natalucci Leverage, the ability to borrow, is a double-edged sword. It can boost economic growth by allowing firms to invest in machinery to expand their scale of production, or by allowing people to purchase homes and cars or invest in education. During economic crises, it can play a particularly important […]
Commercial Real Estate at a Crossroads
By Andrea Deghi and Fabio Natalucci Empty office buildings. Reduced store hours. Unbelievably low hotel room rates. All are signs of the times. The containment measures put in place last year in response to the pandemic shuttered businesses and offices, and dealt a severe blow to the demand for commercial real estate—especially, in the retail, […]
How European Banks Can Support the Recovery
By Mai Chi Dao, Andreas Jobst, Aiko Mineshima, and Srobona Mitra A robust post-COVID-19 recovery will depend on banks having sufficient capital to provide credit. While m ost European banks entered the pandemic with strong capital levels, they are highly exposed to economic sectors hit hard by the pandemic. A new IMF study assesses the […]
Asia-Pacific, the Gigantic Domino of Climate Change
By Vitor Gaspar and Chang Yong Rhee Forget the poetic flap of a butterfly’s wings in Beijing causing rain in Central Park. Climate issues in Asia-Pacific are measured in superlatives. The world’s biggest population. Two of the three largest carbon dioxide-emitting countries and the largest share of emissions globally. The most exposed to extreme weather […]
The Future of Asia: What a Difference a Year Can Make
By Chang Yong Rhee and Katsiaryna Svirydzenka The Sydney Opera resumed live performances and the city of Melbourne recently hosted the Australian Open tennis tournament with fans (mostly) in attendance. Japan is back to planning the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics, while China focuses on the Beijing 2022 Winter Games. Having been hit by COVID-19 first, […]
CHART OF THE WEEKBlowing Hot and Cold
By Jiaxiong Yao When it’s cold we reach for the heater, and when it’s hot we turn on the air conditioning. A warming globe could reduce the need for hepwating in cold seasons and increase the demand for cooling when it’s hot. In principle, there is a sweet spot where it is neither too cold […]
