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
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
Institutional Capacity and Trust: The Ingredients for Fewer Restrictions during the Pandemic
In responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, not all countries have implemented equally strict policies. While Spain and most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have chosen to mandate lockdowns by law, including using security forces for monitoring, control, and coercion, in other countries—such as Sweden—decisions regarding confinement and social distancing have been left … [Read more...] about Institutional Capacity and Trust: The Ingredients for Fewer Restrictions during the Pandemic
Covid-19: The Challenge of Ensuring Assistance to Informal and Vulnerable Workers
Few measures could be more important during the current Covid-19 pandemic than ensuring that the poor and vulnerable can eat, buy medicine and pay for other basic needs as they endure a months-long shutdown essential to protecting public health. But in Latin America where about half the population works in the informal economy, that is no easy feat. Many people in the informal … [Read more...] about Covid-19: The Challenge of Ensuring Assistance to Informal and Vulnerable Workers
Covid-19 and the Deglobalization of Banking
The Financial Times recently reported a sharp drop of lending from US banks to European countries.[1] But this is best characterized as part of a wider deglobalization process. As national authorities urge banks to lend to firms within their borders and provide liquidity and guarantees for them to do so, global players are becoming less global. The syndicated loan market is … [Read more...] about Covid-19 and the Deglobalization of Banking