by Mirko Draca, Emma Duchini, Roland Rathelot and Giulia Vattuone

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the path of the business cycle creating a major unexpected negative economic shock. The new COVID-19 recession is likely to be very different to those that have gone before. As we attempt to devise the best policy response to the economic consequences of the pandemic, it’s useful to compare current dynamics to the early phases of the most recent severe downturn — the Great Recession.