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. 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?