The Indian Economic Journal

Editor
Sudhanshu Bhushan

ISSN: 0019-4662
4 issues per year

Special Issue: Corona and Economy

The lethal coronavirus pandemic has not just created a state of medical emergency but also an economic crisis
leading to negative growth rate, loss of jobs, agricultural and industrial disruptions and the higher rate of inflation. At
present there is highly uncertain situation depending on the period of lockdown. Covid-19 “hangs over the future,
like a spectre,” the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its biannual monetary policy report released on 9th April 2020.
With respect to macro economic outlook, it notes “COVID-19 would impact economic activity in India directly due to
lockdowns, and through second round effects operating through global trade and growth. The impact of COVID-19
on inflation is ambiguous, with a possible decline in food prices likely to be offset by potential cost-push increases in
prices of non-food items due to supply disruptions.” (RBI 2020).

The situation calls for the political will and strategy to prioritize the medical and food and essential items support to
the citizens and the most vulnerable sections of society. The migrant and daily wage workers and farmers and petty
producers and businessmen are worst hit and needs support measures. Once such vulnerability is tackled the state
support measures should not only be high in magnitude, the intersectoral distribution of the support will also decide
the pace and direction of recovery. Perhaps the Keynesian economy will re-establish itself through the measures of
demand management. This is not to deny the role that monetary policy through a liberal credit expansion will have to
take place. The most important is the manner in which confidence building exercise takes place by the Government
and the Reserve Bank of India.

ASSOCHAM has already recommended a 16-point agenda and a stimulus package of at least $200-$300 billion to
thwart one of the deepest global recessions expected in the world’s history. In a report “COVID-19 and world of work:
Impacts and responses”, the International Labour Organization (ILO) calls for urgent, large-scale and coordinated
measures across three pillars - protecting workers in the workplace, stimulating the economy and employment, and
supporting jobs and incomes.

In the light of above, Indian Economic Journal has decided to dedicate two quarterly volumes on “Corona and
Economy”. It will discuss the impact and measures to support the economy. The contributions will help us understand
the magnitude of effect and the strategies needed for recovery. The contributions will guide the policymakers to
help the economy to revive. Your contributions may be in terms of macro as well as disaggregates or sectoral
understanding such as industry, agriculture, finance, labour, education, health, services and so on. Your contributions
should be in terms of research articles and research notes.

I invite all the economists of India and abroad to contribute your original articles and research notes in Indian Economic
Journal. It is published by SAGE and submissions shall be made online.

The submission guidelines are here: https://journals.sagepub.com/author-instructions/IEJ

Submission of manuscripts should be made electronically at https://peerreview.sagepub.com/iej