Post-COVID World: Bracing for A Recession and Rebuilding the Global Economy

Friday, 5 June 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has wrought tremendous and unprecedented strain on the health systems of the world. Countries from the Global North and the Global South are not spared by the rising tide of infections prompting many governments to impose “lockdowns” or “community quarantines” which are useful to prevent the spread of the virus but also have the effect of slowing down the economies. Hardest hit are minimum wage earners and people in the informal economy. The United States recently recorded 22 Million unemployed, a number unseen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. A recent study by Oxfam also suggests that an estimated 500 Million people could be pushed to poverty. With no clear end date to the pandemic, it is imperative for social democrats and progressives to come up with ways moving forward. This is especially needed when there is a lack of leadership from the…