Press releases

A study from EconPol Europe which uses standardized guidelines to identify ‘optimal’ herd immunity policies reveals transferring the risk from the old to the young could reduce a global death toll by over 80%.

The authors of a new study from EconPol Europe have called for policy makers to finance Covid-19 spending through monetization rather than the creation of new debt, which they say could risk exposing a number of countries to a new sovereign debt crisis.

A global survey of economic experts on the effects of the COVID-19 crisis reveals almost all countries expect a severe recession in 2020, with pre-crisis levels not expected to be reached before 2021. Of available policy options, emergency liquidity assistance to firms and temporary tax deferrals for businesses are deemed to be most effective.

An EconPol Europe report estimating the real growth rate of GDP in Portugal in 2020 predicts a budget deficit of around 3% or 4% of GDP, implying a break and not a fiscal regime switch.

Of particular relevance, says author António Afonso (EconPol Europe, Lisbon School of Economics and Management of the Universidade de Lisboa) is private consumption and investment, with households cutting spending significantly and an increase in government spending necessary to cover the lack of domestic demand.

A report from EconPol Europe calculates potential costs of coronavirus to the German economy of up to 729 billion, with up to 1.8 million jobs cut and six million workers affected by lower hours.