Epidemics pose a stress test for governments. Political officials and institutions face the challenge of assembling information and mounting effective interventions against a rapidly spreading and potentially catastrophic disease. They must communicate that information, describe their policies, and, importantly, convince the public of their trustworthiness. If they fail, they may create long-lasting scars in the minds of their citizens, especially on the young generation. This panel will discuss what the political and economic legacy of COVID-19 may be, and how it may shape the public attitude toward political leaders, governments and democracies in the long-term.

Chris Anderson (@soccerquant) is Professor in European Politics and Policy at LSE's European Institute.

Barry Eichengreen (@B_Eichengreen) is George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Professor of Economics and Political Science at University of California, Berkeley. 

Anna Getmansky (@anna_getmansky) is Assistant Professor of International Relations in the Department of International Relations at LSE.

Cevat Giray Aksoy (@cevatgirayaksoy) is a Principal Economist in the Office of the Chief Economist at European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London, and a Research Fellow at LSE's Institute of Global Affairs.

Orkun Saka (@orknsk) is an Assistant Professor in Finance at the University of Sussex and a Visiting Fellow at LSE's European Institute.

Paul De Grauwe (@pdegrauwe) is John Paulson Chair in European Political Economy at the LSE European Institute.

This event is part of LSE's public event series - COVID-19: The Policy Response.

COVID-19 represents an enormous challenge for the social sciences to help governments and non-governmental organisations respond to the economic and societal consequences of the pandemic. Part of LSE's response to this challenge is a series of online public events that will take place over the Summer Term.

Why not visit the School of Public Policy COVID-19 Resource Centre.

This event in the series has been organised by the European Institute.

The next event in this series will take place at 3pm on 19 June on Financing the Post-COVID-19 Recovery.

The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector.

Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSECOVID19

Podcasts and Videos

A podcast of this event is available to download from The Political Scar of Epidemics.

A video of this event is available to watch at The Political Scar of Epidemics.

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.