This panel will consider the law-and-macroeconomics of rebuilding the U.S. economy and repairing the nation’s social and political fabric after the global public health and economic shock from COVID-19. The emerging literature at the intersection of law and macroeconomics has tended to focus on crisis response and near-term countercyclical interventions to moderate the effects of the business cycle. We will examine the long-run legal and institutional underpinnings of an economy that is more resilient to future exogenous shocks (including public health and climate shocks), more adaptable to changes in global trade and capital flows, and more effective at addressing the underlying causes of social strife. Topics may include designing a national investment infrastructure, reconsidering the role of the lender of last resort, and identifying macro-relevant elements of legal and regulatory systems needed in the rebuilding effort, with a view to balancing their multiple political, economic, and legal objectives.
Part I: Paper Presentations
Part II. Panel Discussion, Law & Macro: Themes, Methodologies, Community-building
This discussion will be led by Anna Gelpern and Erik Gerding.
FURTHER READING:
This paper offers an overview of the topic by Anna Gelpern & Adam Levitin recently published in Law & Contemporary Problems