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
Fiscal Policy in the Time of Coronavirus: Constraints and Policy Options for Latin American and Caribbean Countries
Latin America and the Caribbean is suffering a heavy blow as the novel coronavirus is spreading, governments are sending people home, and only a few businesses are allowed to operate. This happens against a grim backdrop of financial fragility, and a flight to quality assets in developed countries, with the resulting doubling of credit spreads in emerging markets since January … [Read more...] about Fiscal Policy in the Time of Coronavirus: Constraints and Policy Options for Latin American and Caribbean Countries
The Spread of the Novel Coronavirus outside China
Updated May 21, 2020 On December 31, 2019, China reported to the WHO several cases of pneumonia of unknown origin in Wuhan, Hubei province. A week later, on January 7, officials determined that these cases were caused by a novel coronavirus. The virus spread very rapidly, first within Wuhan and Hubei province, then to the rest of China. By the end of January, China already … [Read more...] about The Spread of the Novel Coronavirus outside China
A Sharing Economy for Mechanical Ventilators
From Wuhan to Italy, one of the most serious problems associated with COVID-19 has been the lack of intensive care units (ICUs), mechanical ventilators, and staff trained to operate them. In both cases (and notwithstanding China’s astonishing expansion of hospital capacity), many of the deaths could have been prevented with more ICUs and more ventilators. In the absence of … [Read more...] about A Sharing Economy for Mechanical Ventilators