How much more calamity can East Africa take? Already struggling with the twin crises of the coronavirus pandemic and a Biblical scourge of locusts, the region is now being lashed by exceptionally heavy rainfall, with floods that threaten life and livelihood from Ethiopia to Tanzania, and all parts in between. For the continent’s most economically vibrant region, the trifecta of ...

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida expressed confidence earlier this month that the US could avoid an outbreak of deflation. Can we avoid such an outcome as rising anecdotal evidence of wage cuts reveals the magnitude of the negative demand shock that has slammed through the US economy? It was common early in the crisis to view the viral outbreak ...

Europe’s banks have often complained about too much regulation hampering their ability to lend. The Covid-19 epidemic shows that when times are bad the real constraint lies elsewhere: in the financial markets. The European Central Bank (ECB) has gone to great lengths during the coronavirus crisis to ensure that lenders can keep pumping credit into the economy. It immediately provided ...