MERVYN KING: The Covid-19 downturn really is different, as should be its fiscal policy approaches
Simple fairness calls for temporary support due to the pandemic; why should restaurants and musicians suffer while Amazon gets a windfall?
06 December 2020 - 07:33
The current downturns are unlike any previous recession or depression. The coronavirus itself is novel but, more to the point, so is the reason output collapsed in much of the world — not because of Covid-19 as such, but because people withdrew from normal economic activity, either by government decree or at their own initiative.
In effect, the market economy was suspended. Using conventional economic language to describe such a downturn has bred confusion about how policy should respond...
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