Pandemic Archives - Lion and Palm Tree

Why People Wore Masks

An overview of research findings explaining mask compliance across countries

Social distancing and mask compliance — Photo by Maxime on Unsplash

Introduction

According to Francis Fukuyama, leading political thinker, institutional arrangements, including increasing judicialisation and influence of interest groups, constrict decision making in democracies. These along with legally mandated checks and balances can slow decision making in crises. Fukuyama was writing in the US context (The Origins of Political Order, 2011; Political Order and Political Decay, 2014). But, India too is no exception. This perhaps explains the need for seemingly autocratic decisions. Whatever be the method, public view and experience of governmental decisions, through law or regulation, are manifested in compliance. Continue reading “Why People Wore Masks”

IMF’s Central Bank Transparency Code

When increased independence was being given to central banks across the world, especially in their conduct of monetary policy, and in countries implementing an inflation targeting framework, a key element was greater accountability of central banks, in which transparency and appropriate disclosures had a very important role. Transparency refers to the flow and accessibility of information from the central bank to its stakeholders and the public. They rely on that information to inform their judgment of the performance of the central bank and compliance with the central bank’s mandate. Transparency is also a key plank in the central bank’s broader governance and accountability framework. Continue reading “IMF’s Central Bank Transparency Code”

“Pandemic depression”: The way ahead

In the October/November 2020 issue of Foreign Affairs, Carmen Reinhart of the World Bank and Vincent Reinhart, Chief Economist for BNY Mellon Asset Management, have this article on “The Pandemic Depression: The Global Economy Will Never Be the Same.” They cite various data to justify the expression. Bank of England had predicted the steepest decline for UK since 1706. The unemployment figures in the US are the worst since the Bureau of Labor Statistics has had data on it. The World Trade Organization estimated that global trade is poised to fall by between 13 and 32 percent in 2020. And the World Bank had predicted that the global economy would shrink by 5.2 per cent in 2020, and that 60 million people will be pushed into extreme poverty as a result of the pandemic. Continue reading ““Pandemic depression”: The way ahead”

Stephen S. Poloz on the “Teachable moments” from the pandemic

Stephen S. Poloz, Governor of Bank of Canada since 2013, stated in his speech on 4 May 2020 that the pandemic offers a “teachable moment”. He lists the following as lessons for central banking from this teachable moment: Continue reading “Stephen S. Poloz on the “Teachable moments” from the pandemic”

IMF’s World Economic Outlook, April 2020: Effects of the Great Lockdown

The IMF released yesterday the first chapter of its half-yearly World Economic Outlook (WEO) which is due only in May/June 2020. The world has changed significantly since the publication of the last WEO in January this year. The Great Lockdown, as the report calls it, will result in the worst recession since the Great Depression, shrinking the global economy dramatically by -3%, thus surpassing the effects of the Great Recession of a decade back. Continue reading “IMF’s World Economic Outlook, April 2020: Effects of the Great Lockdown”

Covid-19 pandemic and banking regulation

Tobias Adrian and Aditya Narain of the IMF, in their article titled “Maintaining Banking System Safety amid the COVID-19 Crisis” (31 March 2020), suggest how national band supervisors should respond to ensure continued trust and confidence in the banking system. Continue reading “Covid-19 pandemic and banking regulation”