How the Pandemic Should Shake up Economics
Economists typically ignore the social norms and customs on which markets depend and treat them as part of the woodwork, because they are so unchanging in normal times. But a disruption such as the one caused by COVID-19 makes these tacit assumptions explicit, reminding us how much we take for granted.
ITHACA – The COVID-19 pandemic has caused massive disruptions to markets, supply chains, and world trade. This has forced a reckoning with many traditional policies and should be treated as an opportunity to rethink some of the ideas that economists have long taken for granted – including the basic notion of what makes an economy function efficiently.