The unprecedented conditions created by the spread of the coronavirus call for exceptional policy responses from the regional monetary authorities. Besides traditional tools such as interest rate reductions, central banks have been pursuing unconventional measures to avoid permanent consequences from a transitory, but potentially severe, negative shock. Since the 2008 global … [Read more...] about What Can Central Banks Do to Mitigate the Effects of the Coronavirus?
Pandemic and Inequality: How Much Human Capital Is Lost When Schools Close?
Schools are closed in Latin America. Around 154 million children between the ages of 5 and 18 are at home instead of in class. It is not clear how long these closures will last, and there is a good reason for that: Schools provide a perfect environment for the spread of viruses. Students are typically in close contact to one another, packed into classrooms, playing at recess, … [Read more...] about Pandemic and Inequality: How Much Human Capital Is Lost When Schools Close?
Policies and Projections for Latin America and the Caribbean in the Time of Covid-19
The novel coronavirus and the disease it causes, Covid-19, have imposed severe human and economic costs around the world. Cases are growing in Latin America and the Caribbean and if there is one lesson from other countries it is that early action to stop the spread of the virus is key. A recent analysis suggests that there would have been around 3.3 million deaths in the region … [Read more...] about Policies and Projections for Latin America and the Caribbean in the Time of Covid-19
Social Distancing, Informality, and the Problem of Inequality
With more than a million people infected and tens of thousands of deaths around the world, governments are taking extreme but necessary measures to contain the coronavirus, prioritizing in almost all cases some form of social isolation or distancing. But the economic costs for everyone are not the same. The disease lays bare societies' inequalities, inflicting greater economic … [Read more...] about Social Distancing, Informality, and the Problem of Inequality
Coronavirus: The Logic of Serological Testing
A few weeks ago, I wrote a post for this blog discussing the Imperial College’s COVID-19 model, the model that has had the most significant impact on the public policy response to this virus. The post looked at the consequences—terrifying, for sure—of doing nothing, along with the impact of a series of mitigation and suppression policies on demand for hospitals and on the death … [Read more...] about Coronavirus: The Logic of Serological Testing