Political Economy from Great Recession through Pandemic
We consider contemporary comparative political economy and macroeconomics of advanced industrial economies over the past two decades, from the long recession kicked off by speculative bubbles and financial crisis through the sharp disruption created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout the period, massive technological change and widening inequality sharpened debates on the appropriate role of state in managing the business cycle and addressing systemic disparities. In the aftermath of a once-in-a-century public health crisis, the rich economies of the US and Europe face deep questions about the future of work in an era of automation, globalism in a time of xenophobia, and democracy under the rise of right-wing populism. We tackle three key questions through discussion of a mixture of popular and academic readings: What happened during the Great Recession, what political and economic changes followed in its wake, and how did the pandemic and its aftermath reshape these trends?