UNRAVELING THE MACROECONOMIC IMPACT OF COVID-19

The uncertainty brought in by the pandemic is unprecedented; governments across the world are caught in a quagmire. The response of lockdown and social distancing though helpful in containing the spread is at the same time leading to devastating effects on the economy. Rising unemployment, loss of livelihood, mass migration and starvation has made us think how this will affect our people and our economies in the future. Are we employing the right set of fiscal and monetary responses to tackle these issues or are we just shooting in the dark? South Asia Working Group invites you to discuss and address these questions with Prof. Ajay Shah who will help demystify the macroeconomic impact of COVID 19 for India in particular and highlight some of the steps our region could take to move ahead.

About the Speaker:
Ajay Shah studied at IIT, Bombay and USC, Los Angeles. He has held positions at CMIE, IGIDR and the Ministry of Finance. He is Professor at NIPFP in New Delhi. He does academic and policy-oriented research on India, at the intersection of economics, law and public administration. His second book, co-authored with Vijay Kelkar, is "In service of the republic: The art and science of economic policy", and was published in 2019 by Penguin Allen Lane. His areas of focus are macroeconomics, finance, health, and technology policy. His work can be accessed on his home page (http://www.mayin.org/ajayshah) and on the blog that he edits, http://blog.theleapjournal.org