Growth Lab’s COVID-19 Task Force: Strategy and Resources

Latin America: The Post-Pandemic Decade – Conversations with 16 Latin American Economists

December 2021

This eBook brings together leading Latin American researchers and policymakers to discuss the sizeable challenges ahead and map out policy options for a sustainable, equitable and stable future for the region. In one chapter, Ricardo Hausmann explores the most likely growth scenario for the region as a whole, addresses LatAm’s middle-income trap, how the green agenda might affect a viable growth strategy for the region, and more.

What Economic Complexity Theory Can Tell Us about the EU’s Pandemic Recovery and Resilience Plans

September 2021

Ricardo Hausmann, Miguel Angel Santos, Corrado Macchiarelli and Renato Giacon write that economic complexity theories can provide a useful tool for evaluating whether the recovery and resilience plans submitted by EU member states to receive this funding are well-designed. Assessing the case of Greece, they argue that investments should be tailored toward export-oriented sectors and aim to help close the country’s product complexity gap with other EU states.

Lockdown Fatigue: The Diminishing Effects of Quarantines on the Spread of COVID-19

February 2021

This research finds that lockdowns tend to significantly reduce the spread of the virus and the number of related deaths. But the researchers also show that this benign impact declines over time: after four months of strict lockdown, Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions have a significantly weaker contribution in terms of their effect in reducing COVID-19 related fatalities.

Economics of COVID-19 in Three Sub‑Saharan African Countries: Ethiopia, Namibia and South Africa

February 2021

In this book chapter, Growth Lab Director Ricardo Hausmann and research fellow Patricio Goldstein draw provisional lessons on the impact of Covid-19 in these economies, discuss the spread of the virus, the measures taken to slow it down, the external shocks associated with the global impact of the disease, and the economic policies taken to confront the challenge and the economic consequences of the pandemic, in terms of growth, fiscal and financial outcomes and prospects.

The Economic Case for Global Vaccinations: An Epidemiological Model with International Production Networks

January 2021

With vaccines in short supply as of early 2021 and most of them reserved for the advanced economies, this research shows that the global GDP loss of not inoculating all the countries, relative to a counterfactual of global vaccinations, is higher than the cost of manufacturing and distributing vaccines globally.

Video: COVID-19 Response and Recovery

October 2020

As part of Harvard’s World Wide Week, Ricardo Hausmann and our COVID-19 Task Force members discussed the research we’ve conducted around the epidemic and its potential impacts. We also highlighted how the Growth Lab integrated this research into country-specific projects (Ethiopia, Honduras, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and South Africa), focusing on our work in developing government response and economic recovery plans.

Planning for Crisis Resilience

September 2020

Op-Ed by Ricardo Hausmann for Project Syndicate

Horrible Trade-offs in a Pandemic: Lockdowns, Transfers, Fiscal Space, and Compliance

June 2020

Research paper by Ricardo Hausmann and Ulrich Schetter reveals how the deprivation caused by lockdowns can be just as deadly as the pandemic, and reinforce the need for massive financial support in developing countries.

COVID-19 Back-to-Work Planning Briefing

May, 1 2020

Massachusetts High Technology Council’s Recovery and Return to the Workplace Framework focuses on three main strategic areas: Segmentation and Sequencing; Effective Therapeutics; and Reducing the Rate of Spread

A Roadmap for Confronting COVID-19 in Latin America

April 15, 2020

Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Ricardo Lagos, Juan Manuel Santos, Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Léon, Mauricio Cárdenas, Roberto Chang, José De Gregorio, Ilan Goldfajn, Ricardo Hausmann, Eduardo Levy Yeyati, Federico Sturzenegger, Rodrigo Valdés and Andrés Velasco
Americas Quarterly

In the Fog of War – Reflections from the COVID-19 Frontlines

April 9, 2020

Ricardo Hausmann lecture for HKS students

Macroeconomic Policy in the Time of COVID-19: A Primer for Developing Countries

April 7, 2020

Norman Loayza (World Bank); Roberto Chang (Rutgers University); Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas (UC Berkeley); Ricardo Hausmann (Harvard Kennedy School); and Andrés Velasco (London School of Economics)
World Bank E-Seminar

Letter to governments of the G20 nations

April 7, 2020

An open letter to the G20 calling for unprecedented response to COVID-19. Signed by Ricardo Hausman, et al Vox/CEPR Policy Portal

Como Salir de Cuarentena y Lidiar con sus Consecuencias Económicas en Bolivia 

April 2, 2020

(How to Quarantine and Deal with its Economic Consequences in Bolivia)
Ricardo Hausmann and former Bolivian President Jorge Quiroga
Facebook Live

COVID-19 Macroeconomic Consequences for Developing Countries

March 25, 2020

Presentation slides by Ricardo Hausmann

Flattening the COVID-19 Curve in Developing Countries

March 24, 2020

Op-Ed by Ricardo Hausmann for Project Syndicate

COVID-19 Community Mobility Report

Google reports chart movement trends over time by geography, across different categories of places such as retail and recreation, groceries and pharmacies, parks, transit stations, workplaces, and residential.

Using a Delay Adjusted Case Fatality Ratio to Estimate Under-Reporting

April 8, 2020

Timothy W. Russell, et al

How to Keep Global Supply Chains Moving

March 27, 2020

Anabel González (PIIE)