The Case against Bailing Out the Airline Industry

Rugy, Veronique de; Leff, Gary

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3571441

Cited by 8 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Instead, profits are ploughed into investor's portfolios. Large corporations in the travel sector, such as airlines, were among the first to seek government support when the pandemic led to lockdowns, stricter border controls and reduced business (Abate et al 2020;de Rugy, Leff 2020). Ironically, as the pandemic has been tearing through most nations across the world, the number of billionaires also continued to increase (Collins et al 2020;Kelly 2020).…”

Section: The Sars-covid 2 Pandemic Was Predictable Preventable But Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Reflections on the SARS-Covid-2 pandemic after one year: predictable, preventable but inevitable: an ecologist’s perspective

Harvey

2021

CEREM

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Aim: The major aim of the current essay is to argue that neoliberal capitalism, by virtue of its core tenets, has significantly increased the risk of disease outbreaks like SARS-Covid-2. Conclusion/Finding: The dominant socio-political-economic system across the industrialized world is neoliberal capitalism that focuses on economic growth and profit maximization. These are obtained in part through the weakening or elimination of environmental regulations. Although neoliberalism has brought benefits to some, it has exacerbated social and economic divisions within and between countries. More importantly, it is undeniably responsible for increasing the rate of environmental destruction, especially in developing countries in the south, which are rich is resources and raw materials coveted by multinational corporations based in the western developed countries. The loss and/or fragmentation of ecosystems is also bringing people into closer contact with many species that were once largely insulated from human communities, such as bats, that harbor harmful viruses with the potential to affect people through zoonotic spill-over via another wild or domesticated species. Originality/Value of Article: Because it eschews the precautionary principle, neoliberal capitalism is uniquely ill-equipped to prepare for potential calamities like pathogenic outbreaks and, more worryingly, climate change. This makes it obsolete in the Anthropocene. We need to seriously work towards making structural changes in the socio-political landscape in ways that reduce the damage we are doing and also strive to create social justice across the world. This is imperative if we are to create a sustainable future and to protect much of the living world from destruction.

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Section: The Sars-covid 2 Pandemic Was Predictable Preventable But Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Reflections on the SARS-Covid-2 pandemic after one year: predictable, preventable but inevitable: an ecologist’s perspective

Harvey

2021

CEREM

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Tourism Economic Stimulus Packages as a Response to COVID-19

Nhamo

Dube

Chikodzi

2020

Counting the Cost of COVID-19 on the Global Tourism Industry

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Economic stimulus packages in times of global crises and pandemics are nothing new. Following the 2008 global financial meltdown, many countries announced fiscal interventions to stimulate their economies. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, global tourism has never been in need of a bailout. However, due to the pandemic, hotel occupation and restaurant visits plummeted, and some airlines and related businesses were liquidated. By means of secondary data and public pronouncements, as well as document and critical discourse analysis, the chapter profiles stimulus packages to save the tourism industry. From small island developing states (SIDS) in the Pacific and the Caribbean to major global economies and in countless African countries, COVID-19 devastated the tourism sector. The findings are that stimulus packages included measures such as the postponement and restructuring of tourism business loan payments; the postponement of tourism surcharges, levies and taxes; delayed tax declarations and deductions for the sector; the introduction of special tourism sector loans and credit lines; exemption from utility payments and delayed tax collection; cuts and subsidies in interest rates and guarantees on loans for small, medium and microenterprises; the marketing of domestic tourism and discounts on air tickets and jet fuel. The most popular stimulus packages were income tax and corporate tax deferrals. The chapter recommends that wealthier countries, development banks and donors urgently consider topping up fiscal packages for SIDS and least developed countries because the demands occasioned by COVID-19 are bigger than domestic resources (if there are any). It also argues for the escalation of national stimulus packages already in place and quick peer learning and assistance across the world. Since some major companies are able to remain afloat, corporations who are to be bailed out with taxpayers' money have to be selected carefully.

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