BFI-China Seminar Series — COVID-19 and Economics: China, Asia and Beyond (May 8, 2020)

Return-to-office (RTO) mandates drive employees away from firms, with senior employees leaving at the highest rates, likely leading to significant human capital costs in terms of output, productivity, innovation, and competitiveness for the companies implementing strict RTO policies.

US inflation in the early phases of the COVID pandemic was entirely driven by disruptions in supply and demand across industries, whereas most of the subsequent increase in consumer prices is driven by aggregate demand.

A universal COVID-19 vaccine that is effective against existing and future variants could provide the United States population with $1.5–$2.6 trillion more in social value than variant-specific boosters. The social value of a universal vaccine eclipses the cost of incentivizing...