Economy & Business

Coronavirus hits Pakistan’s already-strained economy, and its most vulnerable

By Uzair Younus

During every major economic crisis in Pakistan—and there have been several of them—the wheels of the informal economy have chugged along. Today, the informal sector stands to lose the most, particularly the tens of millions of workers who rely on this cash-based sector to provide them with the bare-minimum income required to meet their daily needs.

Coronavirus comes to Sudan

Not yet one year into a historic political transition and in the midst of an economic collapse, Sudan’s future was already hanging in the balance. The addition of a national and global public health crisis now has the potential for a ‘make or break’ impact on the country.

Defusing Bangladesh’s COVID-19 time bomb

By Irfan Nooruddin and Rudabeh Shahid

Bangladesh has a health crisis in the making. The lack of preparation in the United States and Europe that has spawned the ongoing crisis there still exceeds the preparedness of developing countries such as Bangladesh, which will have to battle the COVID-19 pandemic with limited financial resources and a legacy of poor healthcare infrastructure, especially for the urban poor.

What COVID-19 means for the United States’ economic and financial statecraft

By Michael Greenwald

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, monetary authorities at the US Federal Reserve have undertaken unprecedented actions to support liquidity in global markets. These steps have included support for domestic debt markets, including a recent expansion in the corporate bond market, as well as swap lines targeting the global dollar shortage. Beyond these moves, the broader policy response during and after the COVID-19 outbreak may drive longer-term changes in the global trading system.

Getting ahead of the crisis: Global food security during COVID-19

By Sara-Jayne Terp

Much has been written about the economic consequences of lockdown policies; less attention, however, has been paid to emerging issues like food security in the age of a global pandemic. A topic that is certainly a crucial issue because COVID-19 is also a crisis of logistics – whether it is with regard to necessary medical equipment, labor availability, or food supplies.

COVID-19’s next target: fragile states and emerging markets

By Frederick Kempe

Developed countries – even as they act to save themselves – must shift far greater public health and economic attention to fragile states and emerging markets, where the hit from the virus is likely to be far more devastating, destabilizing, and enduring.

AI, society and governance: An introduction

By Peter Engelke

AI’s increasing range of applications are having real-world consequences, both positive and negative. Those consequences, in turn, have animated spirited and at times emotional debates about how governments can craft policies to come to grips with a world increasingly shaped by AI.

US coronavirus stimulus package offers some relief, but economic pain will remain

By David A. Wemer

US lawmakers are near final passage of an unprecedented stimulus package to help the US economy weather the storm of the coronavirus crisis, but that does not mean that all of the economic damage can be prevented. Jason Furman said he was “impressed by how much Washington has done, how quickly it has done it, how comprehensively it has done it,” but added that he is “worried that all of that won’t be enough for…an economy that is shutting down in such an unprecedented way.”