A silver lining that has emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic is that CO2 emissions have decreased dramatically during the lockdowns. But that this is not necessarily good news for climate change. Emission levels are likely to return to previous levels once the lockdowns are lifted because there have not been any structural changes in climate-related policies that will lock in … [Read more...] about Climate Change is a Threat to Economic Growth and to Reducing Income Inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean
Bridget Hoffmann
Bridget Hoffmann is an economist in the Research Department of the Inter-American Development Bank. Her research interests are applied microeconomics, development economics, and environmental economics. She received her Ph.D. in Economics from Northwestern University in 2015. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Financial Economics and Mathematics from the University of Rochester.
Coronavirus Survey Results Show Big Impacts, Linkages between Labor Markets and Inequality
To get a better grasp of how the coronavirus pandemic is upending lives and livelihoods, we teamed up with Cornell University to carry out an online survey to measure the economic impacts of the pandemic on households in seventeen countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. We found that the impacts were staggering, are closely linked to the composition of the region’s labor … [Read more...] about Coronavirus Survey Results Show Big Impacts, Linkages between Labor Markets and Inequality
Novel Dataset Reveals the Deepening Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Inequality
The coronavirus pandemic is having unprecedented effects on the daily lives of citizens in Latin America and the Caribbean with especially dire impacts on lower income households that range from job and income losses to a lack of information on the disease itself. The situation is changing rapidly and requires prompt policy responses. Those are the initial conclusions from … [Read more...] about Novel Dataset Reveals the Deepening Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Inequality
Coronavirus Restrictions Lead to Improvement in Air Quality
A new coronavirus is sweeping the globe, and, as one of its by-products, deadly air pollution in many places is lifting. Consider the case of Chile. On March 3, Chile announced its first confirmed case of COVID-19. On March 18, it declared a state of catastrophe, and by March 25, the number of confirmed cases in the country had surpassed 1,000, with nearly 60% of the cases … [Read more...] about Coronavirus Restrictions Lead to Improvement in Air Quality
How A Simple Sign Helped Cut Household Emissions by 17%
When the bitter chill of winter descends on the cities of south-central Chile, residents load up their wood-burning stoves with firewood, turn the dampers, or levers, on their stoves down to keep the wood burning longer and settle in to enjoy the crackle and warmth of log-heated homes. Energy produced by wood-fuel burning is around 4 to 6 times cheaper than that of … [Read more...] about How A Simple Sign Helped Cut Household Emissions by 17%