All Those Who Keep The Machine Running
Why It Should Not Take A Global Pandemic To Reshape Financial Inclusion Into An Urgent and Solvable Humanitarian Agenda
And, perhaps most urgently, how can society help all those people the markets have left behind?”
― Abhijit V. Banerjee, Good Economics for Hard Times: Better Answers to Our Biggest Problems
The CoVID-19 pandemic is first and foremost a health epidemic and an economic recession later for nothing trumps the health and well being of the global population. However, for many that are not already infected, this epidemic has manifested itself as an economic problem before being a health issue. These are employees, restaurateurs, small business owners, street merchants, vendors and entrepreneurs who have lost their ability to earn a livelihood. In India, the lockdown has meant loss of livelihood and a health crisis for millions of migrant workers who continue to travel hundreds of kilometers to go back to their home town. The situation, as The Economist calls it, is a ‘grim calculus’. It is heartening to note that philanthropy has surged. However, a more direct financial intervention through inclusion is a better ideal.
