The current recession has had an impact and scope similar to the major global crises such as 2009 or crack bursátil In 1929, however, this has particular implications: it is a health crisis that finds much of its solution in economic decisions.
The role and action of economists and government authorities is critical not only for the depth of the recession and its consequences, but also for the timing and form of recovery. Economists who are experts in teaching, research and public policy agreed on the importance of adapting economic education to the eventuality represented by the pandemic, which, moreover, does not seem to be going away any time soon.
Although it could be thought that the response capacity to a crisis such as the one the world is experiencing is that which states have in terms of health or health systems, the true answer is fiscal, the way out will really be “in finances and in the capacity of our economy to respond to this change ”, affirmed the Dr. Antonio Ibarra, teacher at the UNAM Faculty of Economics during the seminar Teaching Economics convened by the CIDE.
The work of economists in terms of forecasting, documenting and communicating the impact of the crisis has also been key to dismantling problems that are social at first glance, but that have a strong concentration of economic policy behind them. In his speech, Dr. Aurora Gómez Galvarriato He highlighted the huge inequality gaps in the case of Mexico, which has been exposed and which disproportionately polarizes certain groups of the population.
Although indeed, the economic analysis from the academy has served as a fundamental piece to understand the crisis, it is also observed that economists in decision-making positions have failed in the sense of foreseeing and solving. This suggests that there are gaps in the process of training economists, that is, theories or issues that had been neglected in economic science and that are now fundamental to understanding the crisis and formulating recovery strategies.
“In this pandemic the tablecloth has been moved and what was under the table has appeared with all brutality. Fundamentally, the problem of economic inequality (…), the asymmetry of productivity and the vulnerability of some states to face substantive tasks, such as the health issue ”. This situation exposes what the problem of health deregulation has been since before the pandemic and that does not have to do exclusively with state inaction in the public health system but also has to do with what was thought to be solved through of the market and that now it is observed that it really finds a solution in political decisions, said the academic from UNAM, Antonio Ibarra.
The training of economists must be refounded and rethink theories that not only accompany reality, but anticipate and correct, because, up to now, economic education has not served its purpose. Ibarra cites a document prepared by Enrique Cardenas published in the UNAM Magazine, in which a criticism is made of the government’s political management in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis and in which it exposes that economists at this time have planned badly and have not created scenarios to solve and anticipate.
This situation is presented as a learning experience that suggests that the technical knowledge of the economy should be from the sociological, anthropological perspective and from new theories of state intervention, emphasized the academic from UNAM.
The Dr. Gómez-Galvarriato He also emphasized the exacerbation of gender gaps and the need to train economists under this intersectionality lens. Women are the largest vulnerable group in the population; Before the pandemic, economic inequalities persisted, now they have deepened especially in areas such as labor participation, informality, professional backwardness, the overload of housework, the wage gap and glass ceilings.
Economic science is the most important way to recover from a health crisis like the one we are currently experiencing; It is not enough to train more specialists in the field, additionally, it is necessary to rethink the formulas that are taught, encourage the interdisciplinary perspective and generate global and joint action between economic agents and between nations, both speakers agreed.
Economists trained through screens
Another of the great transformations that has catalyzed the pandemic is that of digital education, although online educational systems were already a reality and professional training option for many people, the health emergency has accelerated the digitization of areas such as schools.
Academics agree that distance training also opens the door to taking advantage of many digital resources that are not usually used in face-to-face modalities. Additionally, the door is opened to extend knowledge with contributions from international specialists, teachers or experts who, otherwise than virtual, could not be presented at universities or educational centers.
The training of online professionals, although it may be exclusive for a part of the population, can also have a positive effect in terms of the scope of knowledge, commented the academic from The College of Mexico, now classes are not only for the 20 students who are enrolled, but can be extended to many more listeners.
On the other side of the coin, in addition to the possible digital exclusion, among the areas to work in the new educational model is emotional health. The academic performance of students in general can be affected by collective stress typical of a crisis and with this not only the grades but in general, the school capacity of entire generations.
What should be aimed at is “a new profile of a health economist, an expert who has the ability to be a witness who, at the same time, investigates and proposes. That he be a social researcher in the field, no longer in the cabinet ”, concluded the UNAM professor.
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