A Pulitzer winning economics columnist interviewed an economist of renown—both of them professors at George Mason University—on the possible economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis and more than 80 participants tuned in Wednesday afternoon to hear their insights.
It was not always pretty.
The hour-long session, Stimulating an Economy in a Pandemic, featured Robinson Professor of Public Affairs and Washington Post Columnist Steven Pearlstein and Tyler Cowen, economics professor and chairman and faculty director of the Mercatus Center, Mason’s market-oriented research center.
The conversation, followed by questions from participants, was moderated by Mark J. Rozell, dean of the Schar School which hosted the event.
While Pearlstein maintained that the country should open up in as many sectors as is safe, Cowen made it clear that science and scientists are key to a recovery. “If science doesn’t come through, we’re cooked, big time,” Cowen said. At one point he said the end result of the closure of the economy to the coronavirus pandemic could be worse than the Great Depression.
Pearlstein explained how the U.S. government has at the moment a public that doesn’t want to or can’t spend money and is wrestling with a massive liquidity crisis on top of a credit crisis. He predicted it would take three years to recover fully.
Cowen was less optimistic, predicting five years at least, but “if there is no vaccine, it will be 10 years.”
The video of the webinar is here.
Here are the other COVID-19 webinars this week.
Thursday, April 30, noon-1 p.m.:
National Intelligence and International Security Amid a Pandemic
Gathering intelligence is difficult in the best of times, but how do the country’s intelligence agencies operate during a global lockdown? How will the jobs of intelligence professionals change after the crisis? Join a conversation between two longtime intelligence leaders as they examine the state of intelligence during a pandemic.
Moderator:
Laurence Pfeiffer, Director, Hayden Center
Panelists:
- Michael Morell, Schar School Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Michael V. Hayden Center for Intelligence, Policy, and International Security, former Acting Director and Deputy Director of the CIA
- Glenn Gerstell, former General Counsel of the National Security Agency
Register for the Webex session.
Friday, May 1, noon-1p.m.:
Crisis and Power-Grabbing: Government Expansion of Power During the Pandemic
National leaders in the U.S. and elsewhere are exploiting the coronavirus lockdown to their own benefit. The “elites” are expanding their power over citizens, siphoning money, and creating social discord that may undermine efforts to recover from the crisis. Corruption has never had it so good.
Moderator:
Bassam Haddad, Schar School Associate Professor and Director of the Middle East and Islamic Studies Program
Panelists
- Janine Wedel, Schar School Professor of International Commerce and Policy and Author of Shadow Elite
- Jennifer Victor, Schar School Associate Professor of Political Science and an Expert in Social Network Analysis