The Cost of Doing Nothing: The Price of Inaction in Response to COVID-19 Crisis

The global crisis induced by the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in nature. Emerging as a health crisis, the pandemic has become a threat to global prosperity and stability. Keeping in mind the fundamental uncertainty about the trajectory of the pandemic and the economic forecasts, there is common consensus that the global economy will experience the deepest recession since the Great Depression and the broadest collapse in per capita income since 1870. As of 24 June, the IMF projects a -4.9 percent contraction in global GDP in 2020, followed by a protracted and uneven recovery due to the persistence of the shock.

This article looks at the serious consequences of inaction, both at the national and international level, using multiple scenarios to highlight the exponentially increasing price of inaction. It also advocates that it is far cheaper, better and more dignified to frontload the global response and to act immediately.