Cuba: From AIDS, Dengue, and Ebola to COVID-19
The U.S. dawdled for months before reacting to the pandemic. Cuba’s preparation for COVID-19 began on January 1, 1959.
Coronavirus Pandemic Brings to Light the Need for a Stronger Public Sector
Substantial state intervention in the economy—frowned upon by the apostles of neoliberal economics—is back to the center stage across the world.
Trump, Neo-Fascism, and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Foster says that Trump’s handling of the pandemic catastrophe only buttresses his argument that Donald Trump’s presidency represents the resurrection of fascism in the United States.
Myths, Rumours and Spectacles in India’s Fight Against COVID-19
Brahma Prakash The act could have been named divine comedy, but it was not poetic. In fact, it was anti-poetic. Let’s call it India’s divine formula to defeat COVID-19. The play can be named Burning Corona Down. It was April 5, 2020. As soon as the clock struck 9 pm, the nation that…
A Communal Virus and Our Collective Irrationality
Nissim Mannathukkaren The whole world is battling the novel coronavirus. But it seems India is fighting Muslims in the time of coronavirus, if we were to go by the loudest and most popular television channels and social media discourse. “Corona Jihad” was trending on April 1; on April 2, “Muslim means terrorist” was a…
When Economists Try to Solve Health Crises, the Results Can Often Be Disastrous
Justin Podur I’m writing this at 585,000 worldwide active cases, 26,000 deaths, and with only China and Korea seemingly under some sort of control (using a social metric tool, Worldometer). The stimulus package announced by the U.S. government is at $2 trillion, but without job protections, rent freezes, or meaningful income support for most…
India’s Unemployment Rate May Have Shot Up to 23% After COVID-19 Lockdown: CMIE
Courtesy: The Wire Staff The national lockdown may have led to significant job losses across the country, with the overall unemployment rate hitting over 23% in the last week of March 2020, according to estimates put out by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). India currently does not have official high-frequency employment data….
Coronavirus Pandemic: The Policies We Need to Be Ready for the Long Haul
Abhinash Borah, Sabyasachi Das, Aparajita Dasgupta, Ashwini Deshpande, Kanika Mahajan, Bharat Ramaswami, Anuradha Saha, Anisha Sharma There is a lot that is unknown about SARS-COV-2, but the world’s leading epidemiologists believe that its spread will be a long-drawn process. It will take at least 18 months for a vaccine to become available, and even…
What Doesn’t Add Up in Nirmala Sitharaman’s Relief Package for India’s Poor
Kabir Agarwal, Anuj Srivas How impactful will finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s relief package for India’s poorest actually end up being? The Narendra Modi government unveiled the contours of the Rs 1.7 lakh crore package on Thursday, with a promise that it was for people who needed immediate help – like migrant workers, and the urban…
We Will Survive the Coronavirus. We Need to Make Sure We Survive Ourselves
Ashish Kothari What an astonishing slap in humanity’s face, this coronavirus. But the silver lining is that it is also a rude wake up call. I say ‘silver lining’, for at the centre of this is a massive humanitarian crisis of illnesses and deaths – and for working classes who cannot switch to ‘online’ work,…