Chapter 1: Economic Developments around the World: Corona Crisis Leads to Worst Recession in 90 Years

The Covid-19 pandemic and the measures taken to contain it led to massive disruption of social and economic life. What at the beginning of the year looked like a local outbreak in Hubei Province, China, with little impact on the rest of the world, quickly turned into a global pandemic that has so far caused more than 600,000 confirmed deaths and resulted in unprecedented protective measures. There are significant differences among countries, both in terms of the pandemic course and the political and fiscal measures that have been implemented.