Jayati Ghosh’s Blog

The immediate need for universal food and cash delivery is by now obvious and urgent. Across the country, there are reports of people — migrant workers, local workers, peasants, pastoralists, fisherpeople, vendors, ragpickers, and the destitute — facing extreme hardship, even starvation, because their livelihoods have been extinguished by the lockdown. These have created further an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, as millions of households with depleted savings have no way to access food and other basic necessities over the coming weeks. The threat of infection from COVID-19 makes even harder their coping mechanisms. In these dire circumstances, it is essential for the state…

There are still many uncertainties about the COVID-19 pandemic: about the extent of its spread, its severity in different countries, the length of the outbreak, and whether an initial decline could be followed by a recurrence. But some things are already certain: we know that the economic impact of this pandemic is already immense, dwarfing anything that we have experienced in living memory. The current shock to the global economy is certainly much bigger than that of the 2008 global financial crisis, and is likely to be more severe than the Great Depression. Even the two world wars of the…

At the recent G20 and IMF-WB Spring meetings held virtually in the third week of April 2020, a proposal for the IMF to issue an additional 500 billion of SDRs was blocked by the United States and – astonishingly – by India. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the unprecedented collapse of global economic activity, there had been many calls for the IMF to issue at least 1 trillion SDRs. This would be particularly important for all developing countries, since they are currently facing the brunt of the collapse in world trade and tourism, as well as sharp…

The global economy is in the grip of an unprecedented crisis, once never experienced before in its history. The virus pandemic has yet to run its course in most countries, but meanwhile, the containment measures – which have involved major restrictions on mobility, gatherings and economic activity – have already imposed a massive economic cost. The restrictions and closures have meant simultaneous attacks on demand and supply – a uniquely terrible combination that has created a situation in which conventional policies simply will not suffice. World economic output will most definitely fall this year, possibly much more than the 3%…

Martin was an inspiration to all of us, because of his steadfast commitment, indefatigable energy, infectious enthusiasm and truly impressive capacity for hard work. His dedication to countries of the Global South was strong and his tenacity ensured that he would carry on and keep pushing a progressive agenda despite all obstacles. In addition to his sharp mind and analytical abilities, he also brought humanity and humour to his work. It is difficult to imagine the world of global development fighters without him. We will miss him greatly, even as we continue to benefit from his work. (Jayati Ghosh is…

A video recording of a webinar held on 8 April with Professor Jayati Ghosh, Quinn Slobodian, Walden Bello and Lebohang Pheko on the likely global impacts of the economic fallout from the Coronavirus and how we might be better prepared than the 2008 economic crisis to put forward progressive solutions. 750  people joined our second webinar in our weekly series on the economic fallout from COVID-19. Many are predicting a global recession that could have bigger social impacts than the virus itself. The webinar explored what can we expect, how social movements can prepare,  and what we learn from our…

India is on the verge of an unprecedented economic catastrophe as the humanitarian disaster from the Covid-19 pandemic unfolds. The sheer scale of disruption from the ongoing 21-day national lockdown, announced by prime minister Narendra Modi on March 24 to contain the outbreak, is unprecedented in Indian history. The disruption is much starker than the global financial crisis of 2008, which hit the Indian financial sector and real demand, but did not bring production to a halt. Besides, at the time, the Indian economy was much better placed to handle the crisis, as it had been growing rapidly in the years…

This lecture will try to essentially look at the impact of COVID-19 on the Indian economy — though, as we all understand, we are at a point where we don’t know anything about a lot of things, as the future seems to be riddled with uncertainties. We don’t know about the actual spread of the virus across the country nor do we know about the severity of its attack on the Indian population, and hence, it is quite difficult to talk about its impact on the Indian economy, as it all depends on a lot of other factors, with too…

COVID-19 is a global pandemic wrecking havoc with the healthcare systems of major developed nations and has so far claimed thousands of lives, globally. The extremely high levels of transmission has meant that governments throughout the world have had to freeze everyday functioning in their countries in order to counter the crisis. This has had severe repercussions on the economic front, with the IMF declaring that we are already in the midst of a global recession. It is being touted as a bigger hit to the world economy than the 2008 financial crisis. As such, COVID-19 is one of the…

In an interview that paints a stark and dramatic picture of the damage the coronavirus health scare will do to the economy – and is the first wake up call in this regard – Prof Jayati Ghosh of Jawaharlal Nehru University says more damage has already after been done to the economy in two days of lockdown than by demonetisation since it happened in November 2016. She says growth in March is already negative and the economy will shrink over the next three months. In a comprehensive interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, recorded a few hours before Prime Minister…