COVID-19 began spreading at the end of 2019. Our posts cover the ensuing drop in employment; differential impacts on workers by income, race, ethnicity, gender, education, and parental status; unemployment insurance and other social supports to assist those impacted; the mounting red ink on federal and state budgets; and ramifications in areas ranging from developing countries, to education, the environment, and beyond.
October 7, 2021
COVID supply disruptions, evident in product shortages at the retail level, were an important driver of inflation a year after the start of the crisis.
September 19, 2021
Tom Frieden (former Director, CDC) and Michael Klein discuss factors that make COVID-19 particularly deadly, and the importance of good governance in slowing its spread, as well as other issues.
July 6, 2021
Julia Coronado discusses how she and her team analyze the U.S. economy at a time when the pandemic has disrupted the conventional models and rules of thumb that forecasters traditionally use.
June 21, 2021
The former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers discusses post-pandemic jobs, wages, inflation and whether politicians listen to economists.
May 13, 2021
UI benefits during COVID increased at times to levels well in excess of workers’ earnings and at other times dropped drastically without regard to labor market conditions.
May 10, 2021
Food insecurity and hunger remain elevated for years following an economic downturn. Modest changes could improve the reach of existing government programs.
May 6, 2021
Frequent, unexpected disruptions in the care and schooling of children have significantly contributed to the daily burden for families during the pandemic.
April 14, 2021
Higher education student enrollment declined with the pandemic, particularly for new college students. The size of the impact varied across institution types.
March 30, 2021
The onset of the pandemic in the U.S. in 2020 had a massive impact on crime, with large drops in almost all types of crime except for homicides and shootings.