Understanding Coronanomics: The Economic Implications of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

Abstract

The globalization of COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impacts is set to run havoc across all economies in the world, throwing many into recession and possibly economic depression. As the numbers of infected and death cases rise sharply and recovery from the pandemic remains uncertain even in developed countries, evidence of shocks across economies including China, the Europe, and the US are already emerging. The aim of this paper is to provide an overall understanding of the likely macroeconomic shocks of the pandemic, covering economic activities or areas including demand, supply, supply chain, trade, investment, price level, exchange rates, and financial stability and risk, economic growth, and international cooperation. The paper first presents a general and theoretical mapping of the likely macroeconomic impacts of the pandemic on an affected economy and then reviews the emerging evidence in relation to the impact mapping to understand the nature of the impacts. The paper then illustrates the likely impacts using a standard macroeconomic AD-AS model and outlines some necessary features that needs to be considered while designing policy responses by governments and international institutions in mitigating the economic shocks. Assessments of this paper are broadly in line with the limited studies available on the economics of COVID-19.

Ebola, Zika, Corona…What Is Next for Our World?

“…A salient example of these population factors is how human cases of COVID-19 in China triggered various changes in policies and practices around the world [13][14][15]. Given the potential for the spread of COVID-19, we saw worldwide changes in travel policies, trade policies, supply chains, and health care practices.…”

“…Around the world, poverty is associated with a multitude of risk factors for deleterious health outcomes such as: unemployment or insecure employment; homelessness and mental illness; drug use and violence; poor sanitation and unsafe drinking water; poor housing and dangerous living conditions; poor nutrition and unhealthy lifestyles; greater urbanization and unregulated industrialization; lower levels and poor quality of education; lower health awareness and lack of healthcare access. Poverty is strongly linked with the emergence and spread of existing and emerging infectious diseases [9][10][11][12][13][15][16][17][18].…”

“…Unfortunately, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been mired by politics within and among countries. The pandemic arrived at a critical time when the world was afflicted by trade wars and protectionist practices, socioeconomic and health disparities among countries, decreased funding for public health and health related research, geopolitical distrust and lack of transparency, shrinking support for global health initiatives and development, bioterrorism and nuclear threats, differing views and actions of nations on global health governance and security, microeconomic instability and macroeconomic fragility (that will be accelerated further by the COVID-19 pandemic) [7,8,14,15,18,20]. These factors contributed a to the lack of a timely, unified, coordinated, and comprehensive international strategy in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…Instead, it should reflect a dynamic state within and among countries where harm can be reduced during pandemics such as COVID-19. In addition, we believe that preparedness is deeply intertwined with the other "Ps" [15][16][17][18][19][20]. For example, let us consider a large group of people living close together (i.e., high population density) in a slum in a large city in a developing country.…”

HIV and Food Insecurity: A Syndemic Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…While the authors of this editorial did not have the opportunity to reflect on the impacts of COVID-19 on the HIVfood insecurity syndemic, they discussed a 'severe economic situation' in Zimbabwe that 'has left the healthcare system in a dire state, and spiralling inflation has left many without the money to pay for food let alone basic health services' [2]. While this statement reflects a difficult reality for people living with HIV (PLWH) in Zimbabwe, it is anticipated that there will be challenging economic situations ahead, for many countries, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic [4,5]. As such, it is not surprising that food insecurity has already been highlighted in a syndemic conceptualization of HIV and COVID-19 among PLWH [6].…”