Albany State University Divergence in Growth Essay

Topic 1: The pandemic has caused the world’s economies to divergeIn February the coronavirus pandemic struck the world economy with the biggest shocksince the second world war. Lockdowns and a slump in consumer spending led to alabour-market implosion in which the equivalent of nearly 500m full-time jobsdisappeared almost overnight. World trade shuddered as factories shut down andcountries closed their borders. An even deeper economic catastrophe was avoided thanksonly to unprecedented interventions in financial markets by central banks, governmentaid to workers and failing firms, and the expansion of budget deficits to near-wartimelevels. World economists are of the opinion that it will defy the convergence hypothesisand economies will diverge in growth. Conduct research to validate this divergence.