Public policy response to the pandemic

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Chapter 4 in The Economics of COVID-19, 2021, pp 75-90 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The public policy response to the pandemic requires a balancing of competing objectives involving public health and the economy. These objectives include, inter alia, (i) financing huge budget deficits caused by increasing spending to support unemployed workers and social safety nets; (ii) providing financial support for strained national healthcare systems; and (iii) implementing fiscal and monetary policies that support economic activity, while also assisting businesses experiencing financial distress. This chapter is about the response to the pandemic, starting with the public health response, which (in the absence of effective pharmaceutical treatments) takes the form of non-pharmaceutical intervention. It is demonstrated that when interest rates are already low or negative, the macroeconomic response mostly takes the form of a fiscal response. Another important issue covered in this chapter is that of the policy dilemma represented by the choice between human and economic fatality.

Keywords: Economics and Finance; Politics and Public Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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