The Essential Podcast, Episode 8 : The Road Forward - Infrastructure and Recovery

About this Episode

In this episode, host Nathan Hunt interviews Beth Ann Bovino, S&P Global Ratings' Chief U.S. Economist, the current state of the U.S. economy during the coronavirus pandemic and the role that infrastructure spending may play in an eventual recovery.

The Essential Podcast from S&P Global is dedicated to sharing essential intelligence with those working in and affected by financial markets. Host Nathan Hunt focuses on those issues of immediate importance to global financial markets – macroeconomic trends, the credit cycle, climate risk, energy transition, and global trade – in interviews with subject matter experts from around the world.

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Show Notes

Read the research discussed in this episode:

• Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. has fallen into recession. But the U.S. economy may have a second chance. COVID-19 has created an urgency to invest in much-needed infrastructure. Six months from now, we may look back on the pandemic as an event like Super Storm Sandy, which called attention to the need for investing in infrastructure to prevent damage from climate change. Read S&P Global Ratings Chief U.S. Economist Beth Ann Bovino's latest infrastructure report

• With over 90% of the population under "stay-at-home" guidelines, up from three-fifths in late March, U.S. economic activity has effectively stopped. S&P Global Ratings now forecasts U.S. GDP will contract 5.2% in 2020—substantially worse than the March forecast for a 1.3% decline. Read S&P Global Ratings Chief U.S. Economist Beth Ann Bovino's report on the U.S. downturn

• Countries’ measures to stem the spread of coronavirus have escalated amid increasing confirmed cases globally to more than 3.6 million. These efforts, together with business and consumer behavioral changes, are having wider and deeper effects on economies than previously estimated. Access S&P Global's digest on the economic and credit market implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, updated daily with research and reports that examine the effects the pandemic are having on the global economy and financial markets.

The Essential Podcast is edited and produced by Molly Mintz.