Economic Reactions to the Covid-Crisis

A discussion from the 6 April 2021, organised by the AkG and
transform! Europe. What were the economic reactions of the EU
Member states to the Covid-19 Crisis? What did these states do in
2020 to support their economies during the pandemic? And which
barriers to interventions, such as the restrictive rules regarding
state aid, had to be suspended to facilitate state action? This is
Mosaik podcast. In today’s edition we present a discussion between
Roland Kulke of transform! Europe and Matteo Gaddi, a researcher
and trade union delegate in Italy. The discussion took place as
part of the AkG event series on social research in times of social
distancing. You can find the other events from this series here in
the podcast feed. Transform! Europe is the political foundation of
the European Left Party. During the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic,
when governments were forced to shut down large parts of the
European economies, transform! asked experts from across the EU to
evaluate the economic interventions of different member states to
this crisis. The focus in these studies were demand and supply side
measures and on where the money would be spent. At the heart of
these analyses and todays discussion lie the questions: How far
have the states used this unique opportunity to push for more
sustainable economic structures. Everybody talked about the revival
of the “public” and the need for state intervention - So, have
there been plans to set up public enterprises? And finally: which
role did workers and their trade unions play in the development of
the national plans? These questions will be explored along an
in-depth case study of Italy and a broader discussion of the
findings more generally. We have Stefanie Wöhl of the University of
Applied Science BFI in Vienna to thank for the moderation, who will
also provide a more detailed introduction of the speakers.