From Permacrisis to Technological Breakthrough: Prospects for the Global Economy Post-COVID-19

A special issue of Economies (ISSN 2227-7099). This special issue belongs to the section "Labour and Education".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025 | Viewed by 3803

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Economia, Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples, Italy
Interests: innovation; income distribution; economic development; economic history

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

On the 10 May 2023, after around 766 million cumulative COVID-19 cases worldwide and nearly 7 million deaths from the disease, the WHO officially declared the end of COVID-19 as a Global Health Emergency. Despite enormous efforts relying mainly on expansionary fiscal policies (NextGenerationEU, Biden stimulus, etc.), the GDP growth rate forecasts are not satisfactory, especially for advanced countries. The global economic contradictions preceding the emergence of the pandemic appear to present similar characteristics now. A shrinking middle class, income inequality, inflation, unemployment, job insecurity, and relative as well as absolute poverty are issues that do not seem to have left the contemporary world. This aside, in the background, the challenge of technological “leapfrogging”— represented by the adoption of AI and related innovations (the metaverse, etc.)—can potentially create new scenarios. The aim of this Special Issue is to identify what the prospects are for the world economic system after a health crisis of unprecedented dimensions and the dawn of new technological change that could substantially alter the main features of the capitalist mode of production. Contributions relating to studies on income distribution, the labor market, wages, technological change, and growth, from both empirical and theoretical perspectives, will be considered.

Dr. Francesco Schettino
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • capitalist crisis
  • IA and big data
  • innovation and new technologies
  • functional and personal income distribution
  • global distribution of income and poverty
  • polarization and the middle class
  • wealth distribution and concentration
  • social and class conflicts

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

32 pages, 396 KiB  
Article
Underestimating the Pandemic: The Impact of COVID-19 on Income Distribution in the U.S. and Brazil
by Federica Alfani, Fabio Clementi, Michele Fabiani, Vasco Molini and Francesco Schettino
Economies 2024, 12(9), 235; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies12090235 - 3 Sep 2024
Viewed by 895
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed individuals to various risks, including job loss, income reduction, deteriorating well-being, and severe health complications and death. In Brazil and the U.S., as well as in other countries, the initial response to the pandemic was marked by governmental [...] Read more.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed individuals to various risks, including job loss, income reduction, deteriorating well-being, and severe health complications and death. In Brazil and the U.S., as well as in other countries, the initial response to the pandemic was marked by governmental underestimation, leading to inadequate public health measures to curb the spread of the virus. Although progressively mitigated, this approach played a crucial role in the impacts on local populations. Therefore, the principal aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 and, indirectly, of the policies adopted by the U.S. and the Brazilian governments to prevent pandemic diffusion on income distribution. Utilizing available microdata and employing novel econometric methods (RIF-regression for inequality measures) this study shows that growth in COVID-19 prevalence significantly exacerbates economic disparities. Furthermore, the impact of COVID-19 on inequality has increased over time, suggesting that this negative impact has been intensifying. In the U.S., results indicate that working from home, the inability to work, and barriers to job-seeking significantly increase inequalities. Although further data are necessary to validate the hypothesis, this preliminary evidence suggests that the pandemic has significantly contributed to increased inequality in these two countries already characterized by increasing polarization and significant social disparities. Full article
27 pages, 828 KiB  
Article
The Widening of the North–South Divide: Debt Sustainability in a World Weakened by COVID-19
by Sandra Bernardo, Maria Luísa Vasconcelos and Fátima Rocha
Economies 2024, 12(2), 42; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies12020042 - 6 Feb 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2225
Abstract
This research compares the global debt trends in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on economies that frame the North and South divide. The research centers on debt ratios, which serve as indicators of countries’ ability to finance recovery and development projects. [...] Read more.
This research compares the global debt trends in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on economies that frame the North and South divide. The research centers on debt ratios, which serve as indicators of countries’ ability to finance recovery and development projects. The study period runs from 2015 to 2022 and follows the IMF’s country classification, which divides the world into advanced economies (AE) and emerging market and developing economies (EMDE). The research employs panel data regressions to assess three key debt ratios—external debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), external debt to exports, and public debt to GDP—against various pandemic-related indicators and control variables. The analysis provides three major contributions. Firstly, an examination of external and public debt burdens is conducted, showing that escalated external and public debt burdens in EMDE contrast with increasing public debt in AE, primarily due to fiscal stimulus. Secondly, it is argued that the ongoing pandemic has intensified the widening economic gap between the North (AE) and the south (EMDE). Thirdly, a review is presented of both orthodox and heterodox policies identified in existing literature that are considered capable of mitigating external vulnerabilities in EMDE. Findings highlight the critical need for multifaceted measures to address debt vulnerability and promote sustainable economic recovery in a post-pandemic world. Full article
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