A Comparative Analysis of Air Pollution Levels During Times of International Uncertainty: The Financial Crisis of 2008 and the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020

During a crisis, economies stagnate as uncertainty grows about the future state of the world. The financial crisis of 2008 led to a severe recession where the global economy halted for approximately two years, causing unemployment and poverty [1]. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which attacks the respiratory system [2], was first identified in Wuhan, China, in late December of 2019. Within a matter of months, it spread globally causing economies to shut down. As distinct as the financial crisis of 2008 may seem from the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, both have had devastating effects on national economies and industrial production, resulting in an overall decrease in air pollutant emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Therefore, parallels can be made between air pollution levels during each crisis. Given air pollution rates increased after the financial crisis of 2008 [3], it is likely air pollution will also rise in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to support this argument by analyzing air pollution trends outlined in the results of several published papers.

Impact of the current medical system on the financial stability of world countries and the Republic of Moldova

The economic crises that have occurred worldwide so far have been caused by emerging problems arising from the supply-demand correlation for certain products on the world market. However, the current economic crisis has been caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic. The greatest difficulty has been the impossibility of predicting the crisis that has arisen as a result of the need to introduce urgent restrictive measures to combat the pandemic. The devastating consequences of the crisis caused by COVID-19 were the halt of the world economy and the decline in Global Production, which was recorded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the spring of 2020. The Republic of Moldova faced the overlap of two major crises: first caused by the COVID19 pandemic and second by the severe drought, mentioned as the most severe recession in the last 20 years. As crisis consequence, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Republic of Moldova estimated for 2020 decreased by about 6.5%.

Experiences of Opening Up Communicative Spaces for Large-Scope Issues

The continuously changing world creates new challenges, large-scope issues, both at the community and the organizational level. Currently, sustainable development is among the key issues demanding organizational learning and new ways of operation. The paper looks for the potential of Scandinavian communicative-oriented action research (AR), applied in dialogue forums, to enhance learning and planning of integrative solutions to meet the needs of various actor groups. The paper links two intertwined AR lines of a Finnish work research institute to the contexts of classic and current AR discussion and their original social conditions in the early 1990s, when they were challenged by a severe recession. The characteristics of communicative spaces applied in the two cases are analysed qualitatively. The data, consisting of case reports, are reread and interpreted in a framework that concretizes Habermasian ideals of free communication. The elements of organisational learning and power embedded in the organisational positions of the participants dealing with large-scope societal issues are made explicit. Free communication and joint agreements of concrete plans require active agency that can be learned in a psychologically and socially safe communicative space where Habermasian lifeworld and system interact. The research shows the malleability of dialogue-based communicative spaces that can be applied in versatile social and organizational conditions. A future option would be a continuous dialogue applied in permanent dialogue structures.

The Impacts of COVID-19 Crisis upon the Consumer Behaviours in Mueang Khon Kaen District, Thailand

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is widely spread across the world. The COVID-19 lockdown policy has forced dine-in restaurants and cafes to close. Consequently, there is a plunge in the global economy into severe recession due to less economic activities. On the other hand, the demand for online food delivery services has increased during this period. As a result, the changes in consumer behaviours during the COVID-19 crisis are taken into consideration. Are the COVID-19 crisis and the changes in consumer behaviours related? Due to the new model of consumption, our study aims to observe and discern the relationship between COVID-19 crisis and changes in consumer behaviours. Data were collected by a questionnaire asking about participants’ general information, the impacts of COVID-19 on other relevant aspects, and the changes in consumer behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic. Survey samples, including the population in Mueang Khon Kaen District, Thailand, were randomly selected through a random sampling method with a total of 634 respondents (241 males, 380 females, and 13 others). Our results revealed that the respondents have been highly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and their consumer behaviours have been changed significantly compared to the pre-pandemic period. Additionally, statistical analyses showed that there is a significant correlation between the COVID-19 pandemic and the changes in consumer behaviours. This study could serve as a guideline of further studies about the COVID-19 pandemic and consumer behaviours, which can be appropriately adopted in the era for the new normal.

From a Recession to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Inflation–Unemployment Comparison between the UK and India

The recession in India and the UK peaked in 2017 due to the implications of new policy initiatives. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of 2020 intensified the crisis, causing a drastic decline in aggregate demand and output. India and the UK have resorted to monetary and fiscal stimulus packages to face the economic crisis. This study investigated the inflation–unemployment dynamics during the recession and COVID-19 times in India and the UK. Using a generalized additive model (GAM), the results of this study revealed that the recession had given way to stagflation in India. In contrast, in the UK, it has led to a more severe recession in the short-run. During the downturn, policy initiatives aggravate the recession and eventually turn to stagflation in India due to inflation caused by the weak supply side. However, in the UK, the policy initiatives during this downturn pushed the economy into a deeper recession due to reduced demand. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a similar recessionary impact on both economies. A time horizon based recovery plan is suggested to help the economies recover from stagflation and even deeper recession. This framework could enable policymakers to choose the right path of recovery within the shortest possible time.

Warlord Politics and Economic Clientelism in Lebanon

Since October 2019, Lebanon has been going through a deep economic and financial crisis that drove the country to a political meltdown. Facing a severe recession, high inflation and unemployment, nationwide protests in the aftermath of the Beirut explosion in August 2020 have led to the resignation of Hassan Diab’s cabinet – the second government to resign within the span of a few months. This article studies the interplay of the political, economic, and social factors that led to the current economic and political crisis. We show how warlord politics, and a corporate consociational system have misguided incentives and policies and consolidated a rentier economy that inevitably led to the current situation.

House Prices and the Credit-Driven Household Demand Channel: The Case of the Irish Economy

The performance of the Irish economy stands out across western economies over the past two decades as the later years of its “Celtic Tiger” phase gave way to a sharp and extremely large economic downturn between 2008 and 2012. This severe recession has been followed by a Lazarus-style economic recovery in recent years. This paper examines the role played by the credit-driven housing net worth channel in the path that Irish economic performance has taken between 2002 and 2019 by specific reference to developments in the domestic labour market. We find a significant positive relationship between housing net worth and employment growth in Ireland, manifesting itself through the non-traded sector of the economy between 2007 and 2012. This followed the emergence and then bursting of a substantial credit-fuelled housing market bubble in the Irish residential property market. Our analysis indicates no evident link between economic activity and a credit-driven housing net worth channel in recent years. This may reflect market and regulatory responses to the banking crisis-led recession of the late 2000s and early 2010s.

Socio-Economic Implications of COVID-19 Pandemic in South Asia: Emerging Risks and Growing Challenges

The dramatic spread of COVID-19 has threatened human lives, disrupted livelihoods, and affected trade, economy and businesses across the globe. The global economy has begun to show major disruptions and is heading toward a severe recession with an unprecedented economic crisis. As the global economy is highly integrated and interdependent through the global supply chains, it has been profoundly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although all countries have faced difficulties due to Covid-19, South Asian countries in particular have had to deal with a more challenging situation due to their large population, weak health facilities, high poverty rates, low socio-economic conditions, poor social protection systems, limited access to water and sanitation, and inadequate living space, necessary to maintain physical distancing and take other required measures to contain this pandemic. To contain the spread of the virus, South Asian countries have imposed stringent lockdowns, which have consequently affected the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in the region, where a third of world’s poor live. Against this backdrop, this paper examines the existing and prospective impacts, risks and challenges of Covid-19 on key social and economic sectors including migration, tourism, informal sector, agriculture and rural livelihoods. The analysis revealed that COVID-19 is likely to affect economic growth, increase fiscal deficit and monetary burden, increase the risks of macroeconomic instability, decrease migration and remittance, reduce income from travel and tourism, and result in dwindling micro-small and medium industries and informal businesses. This is likely to deepen poverty and increase unemployment and the risks of hunger and food insecurity. If not addressed properly, this may reinforce existing inequalities, break social harmony, and increase tension and turbulence. The economic and social costs of the COVID-19 outbreak are therefore likely to be significant and long-lasting in South Asia.