The Political Economy of Covid-19: Covid-19, Inequality and Government Responses

This comprehensive book brings together research published during 2021 analysing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy - on output and employment, on inequality, and on public policy responses.

The Covid-19 pandemic has been the greatest public health crisis for a century - since the ’Spanish Flu’ pandemic of 1919. The economic impact has been equally seismic. While it is too early to measure the full economic cost - since much of this will continue to accumulate for some time to come - it will certainly be one of the greatest global economic shocks of the past century.

Some chapters in this edited volume report on specific countries, while some take a comparative look between countries, and others analyse the impact upon the global economy. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, there had been calls for a ’great reset’ in face of the climate crisis, the increased income and wealth inequality, and the need to avoid further global financial crisis. With the devastating Covid-19 pandemic - a harbinger for further such pandemics - there is an even greater need for a reset, and for the reset to be that much greater.

The chapters in this book were originally published as special issues in the journal International Review of Applied Economics.

Jonathan Michie is Professor of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange at the University of Oxford, where he is also President of Kellogg College. He is the managing editor of the International Review of Applied Economics, and Chair of the Universities Association for Lifelong Learning.

Maura Sheehan is Professor of International Management at Edinburgh Napier University. She is an Associate Editor of the International Review of Applied Economics and Editor in Chief of the Journal of Organisational Effectiveness: People and Performance (JOEPP).