16 March 2021 In the past week, the Biden Adminstration passed its historic American Rescue Plan (ARP) and UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled his budgetary program for the coming years. The message from both is clear, the immediate priority is to provide Covid-related relief to household and businesses. Concerns about rising public sector debt would [...]
18 September 2020 Presidential candidate Joe Biden's economic program is taking shape. His plan to "Build Back Better" following the pandemic will involve higher levels of government spending and taxation. My intention is not to project the numerical impact on the nation's public finances, as this is ably accomplished by Penn Wharton, the Committee for [...]
25 March 2020 In recent weeks, policymakers world-wide have repeatedly pledged "to do whatever it takes" to offset the economic damage wreaked by the Covid-19 outbreak. In general, the aim has been to provide needed medical resources, allocate compensation for sick leave, provide direct payments to workers losing their jobs, and to give support to [...]
20 March 2020 Initial data from China indicate the economic impact of the Coronavirus and efforts to prevent its spread will be significant. I will make some preliminary global economic projections, although they come with a greater degree of uncertainty than normal. Perhaps more importantly, I will set out some guideposts about how to assess [...]