COVID-19 and Economic Crisis: What We Know and What We May Expect

Abstract

Should we get accustomed to economic crises? This question is, indeed, a relevant one since, in the same decade, the world has suffered from two severe global downturns, the first related to the so-called “Great Recession” and the second originated by the current pandemic. This sequence of crises in such a limited period is unprecedented. To find another severe crisis in Western economies, we must go back to the years that preceded the Euro system (92–93) and previously, to the oil shock crisis of the mid and late 1970s. Therefore, we look at what occurred in the recent past to predict the likely effects of COVID-19. The introduction presents some data related to the impact of the first wave of the pandemic and the likely trends concerning the real economies and the shifts in monetary, fiscal and social policies. In the rest of the chapter the authors offer specific contributions on the effects on the economic environment as well as on firm and social structures.