Will Coronavirus Mean the End of Austerity? The Macroeconomics of the COVID-19 Crisis

In the fifth part of the Economics of COVID-19 Webinar by SOAS, Jo Michell sketches out the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the wider macroeconomy of the UK and Europe. By explaining why the current debates around the demand or supply-shock characteristics of the crisis are misled and by dismantling the debt-obsession as a crisis response of the last decade, he warns against future policy shifts towards increased austerity.

Interesting webinar where Jo Michell locates the macroeconomic debates in their political context. It is important not to reduce the crisis discussions to external shocks but to see the icing of the economy as a political decision that has to be treated as such. Governments are currently acting as lenders of last resort while economic activity is put on hold and this will change the character of recovery. Against this background, his warnings against a post-COVID-19 resurgence of austerity and pessimism about a Green-New-Deal are calling for increased efforts in progressive research and activism.