COVID-19 and Climate: Economic Impacts




Commonwealth Club of California Podcast show

Summary: The COVID-19 recession is unfolding at historic speed and depth. New jobless claims reached 10 million in just two weeks, a record pace. Wall Street’s fear gauge closed at an all-time high in mid-March. Environmentally, though, the shutdown has come with some temporary benefits—decreased travel, cleaner water and a plunging demand for oil. But crashing the economy isn’t exactly a climate solution. How will the coronavirus recession reshape the economy and prospects for addressing climate in a post-pandemic world? How does this economic crisis compare to others in history? Join us for a conversation with Kathleen Day, finance lecturer at Johns Hopkins University and author of Broken Bargain: Banks, Bailouts, and the Struggle to Tame Wall Street; Amy Jaffe, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations; and Matt Rogers, senior partner at McKinsey & Company.