Pandemic Public Finance: how historic is it?

Contributor(s): Professor Graciela L Kaminsky, Professor Carmen M Reinhart, Professor Thomas J Sargent | Can we draw parallels between the impact of crisis and war on state’s indebtedness in the past with the consequences of public borrowing in today’s age of independent central banks and aging populations? This panel discussion will bring together experts on the history of finance to examine the fiscal challenges brought about by the pandemic. By situating today’s challenges in their historical context, they will address whether lessons can be learnt from the past about the ways in which debt can be managed and how it will affect the world’s economies in the future.
Meet our speakers
Graciela L Kaminsky is Professor of Economics and International Affairs at George Washington University with expertise in international finance and open-economy macroeconomics. Her research focuses on contagion, currency and financial crises, exchange rates, fiscal and monetary policies, international cap