Sleepwalking into a less secure future

EARLY IN THE PANDEMIC, EXPERTS PROJECTED THAT the world economy could shrink by almost 10% in 2020. Yet what played out was a contraction of 3.1%—still a huge loss of output, but not nearly as dire.

- KRISTALINA GEORGIEVA

To a large extent, this was due to international cooperation. Countries came together to diagnose the problem: a simultaneous shock to supply and demand. This meant that standard policy responses would not be sufficient. That’s why policymakers took extraordinary fiscal and monetary measures to support businesses and households. Without this coordinated response, we would have faced another Great Depression. And without the global collaboration of scientists and health authorities, we would not have had effective vaccines in record time. When crisis strikes, as it has so often in the past three years, international cooperation can save lives and livelihoods, and lay the foundations for a faster recovery.