The Crisis of 2020-2021 and Beyond

This book discusses twin crises --the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated global economic crisis. The book is presented in three sections. Section One discusses the Covid-19 crisis and its global impact. Section Two discusses the global economic impact of the crisis with a chapter on the crisis in the US, a chapter on the global economic impact of the crisis and chapter three on the role of microfinance in assisting the world's poor during the crisis. Section Three addresses spillover issues. All crises have tails this one has a long tail of issues such as long Covid, mental health problems, excess deaths, increasing poverty and growing economic inequality. Finally, the book seeks to answer two existential questions: how does this crisis end? Are we ready for the next crisis?

This book discusses twin crises --the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated global economic crisis. The book is presented in three sections. Section One discusses the Covid-19 crisis and its global impact. This section has five chapters: (i) a short history of pandemics; (ii) the global Covid-19 pandemic; (iii) the Covid-19 crisis in the US; (iv) the importance of vaccines in resolving the crisis; and, (v) two existential questions: How does the crisis end? Are we ready for the next pandemic? Section Two discusses the global economic impact of the crisis with a chapter on the crisis in the US, a chapter on the global economic impact of the crisis and chapter three on the role of microfinance in assisting the world's poor during the crisis. Section Three addresses spillover issues. All crises have tails this one has a long tail of issues such as long Covid, mental health problems, excess deaths, increasing poverty and growing economic inequality. Finally, the book seeks to answer two existential questions: how does this crisis end? Are we ready for the next crisis?

IRA W. LIEBERMAN Ira W. Lieberman Ph.D. was President and Chief Executive Officer of LIPAM International, Inc., from October 2004 until December 2020. In this capacity he advised governments, not-for-profit institutions and private companies in emerging market, transition and developing market countries. Ira worked for the World Bank in Washington DC from 1993-2004 and from 1985-1987 in several positions, including the following: (i) Senior Advisor, ECA Region from February 1993 to July 2004; (ii) Acting Director of the Global Small Business Department for the World Bank Group (IFC and IBRD); (iii) Chief Executive Officer of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor ("CGAP"), the international secretariat for the microfinance sector; (iv) Senior Manager for Privatization and Restructuring Private Sector Development Department; and (v) Ira worked in several countries on crisis resolution and post-crisis restructuring—Mexico (1985-1987), Korea (1998-2001), Turkey (2001-2002) and Argentina (2002-2003). On leave from the World Bank from July 2003 to July 2004, Ira worked with the Open Society Institute (Soros Foundation) as a Senior Economic Advisor to George Soros, focusing on creating a microfinance investment fund for Southeast Europe. He continued his employment with the Open Society Institute until November 2004. Prior to joining the World Bank, Ira had almost 20 years of experience in the private sector Ira has been a director of several companies including several publicly listed companies. He has also served on the boards of several not-for-profit institutions primarily focused on microfinance and social (impact) investing. Ira has written extensively and has been published on four principal topics—the transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union; privatization, and restructuring; financial crises and workouts/resolution strategies; and microfinance. His latest books are as a co-editor of The Future of Microfinance, Brookings Institution Press, 2020 and In Good Times Prepare for Crisis, Brookings Institution Press, 2018. Ira has a BA from Lehigh University Magna Cum Laude, an MBA from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. (D.Phil.) from Oxford University. He also studied at El Colegio de Mexico in his junior year at Lehigh University.