Author: Karthick Arunachalam

Azmaeen Zarif, University of Cambridge -- Despite vaccine successes, the end of the COVID-19 pandemic remains unclear. While strict public health measures alongside lower fatality rates for the younger population may have mitigated the impacts on potential output in the long-term, issues such as the deskilling and demoralization of unemployed workers and delayed bankruptcies following the eventual withdrawal of governmental support, risk potential deep and persistent economic scarring. Past pandemics may hold the key to predicting the long-term economic effects of COVID-19.

Ezra Kohrman, Stanford University -- A food crisis is brewing. Over the last two years, supply chain chokeholds, rising energy costs, and natural disasters have fueled an escalating spiral of increasing food prices. The war in Ukraine is now accelerating this crisis to unprecedented proportions.

Irina Didenko and Jennifer Zhang, New York University -- As climate change continues to wreak havoc worldwide, the international community has become increasingly concerned for the environmental and economic future of less developed countries (LDCs), which face acute difficulty enduring and recovering from climate disasters due to their poor infrastructure, weak governance, and low level of human capital. One group of LDCs, in particular, requires special attention, as their unique geographic characteristics make them especially vulnerable to climate change shocks: the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS). 

Zachary Cheek, University of Nebraska-Lincoln -- Trade liberalization has long been thought to lead to the decline of repressive regimes. However, as autocratic states like Russia, Iran, and China have expanded their influence, Western nations are beginning to see that trade alone will not be a motivator for antagonist governments to behave in the desired ways.