COVID-19 – Vanderbilt Business Review

Jul

22

2020

Emissions Bounce Back as Economies Reopen

All Posts, SustainabilityCOVID-19

As people around the world faced forced confinements caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, global greenhouse gas emissions fell as a result. A study led by climate scientist Corinne Le Quéré of the University of East Anglia published in the journal Nature estimated that emissions fell by 8% compared with 2019 levels. That drop brought emissions in line with their 2006 level. The researchers estimated that total 2020 emissions would fall by between 4 and 7% compared to last year. However, with communities reopening around the world, carbon emissions have begun to return, ticking back up to just 5% below 2019…

Jun

02

2020

By Maxwell Qian

Negative Interest Rates: A Novel Solution or a Novelty Item?

All Posts, Economy and GovernmentCOVID-19

In the wake of the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, some in the United States, including president Donald Trump, have called on the Federal Reserve to push interest rates below zero. Negative interest rates would be unprecedented in the US but they have become established monetary policy in Europe and Japan. Such rates represent a logical extension of expansionary monetary policy while also breaking key economic laws. This counterintuitive policy raises more questions than it appears to answer. How do negative interest rates work? could we really be paid to borrow money? and most importantly, can negative interest…

Apr

01

2020

By Joshua Power

COVID-19: A New Kind of Economic Challenge

Economy and GovernmentCOVID-19

COVID-19–the highly contagious respiratory illness–has rapidly become a global pandemic, with countries closing borders, restricting domestic and international travel, closing businesses, and even enforcing national quarantines. While the top priority of every country is to treat the ill, develop a cure, and ultimately distribute a vaccine for the virus, the U.S. government is also taking action to address the economic crisis caused by the Coronavirus. In a short period, the pandemic is already having a devastating effect on the U.S. economy. Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs, has predicted an unprecedented 34% decrease in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for…

Mar

19

2020

By Dave Ghosh

Coronavirus and the Economy: A Forced Recession?

Economy and GovernmentCOVID-19

For years, many have talked about the inevitability of a recession. Throughout my time at Vanderbilt, discussions regarding how it will be difficult to find a job when we graduate always came up. In this unprecedented time, it seems as if the global economy is on the verge of collapsing. From sports’ leagues shutting down for an undetermined amount of time to the demand for gasoline falling to the Dow Jones industrial average tumbling, nothing seems to be going right economically. There are not many people, or companies, who are profiting right now. Of course, money should be the least…