Pandemic Playbook Posts

How do households in a crisis, marked with price volatility, employment uncertainty, and complex information alter their savings, borrowing, and payment behavior? Image via Forbes Shocks with prolonged effects on the economy and social life of people seep into a household's daily routine. One major domain that gets severely impacted is the household's finance. Negative effects of these shocks, which may take forms of economic crisis, natural disaster, or pandemics, can alter

As the COVID-19 pandemic is approaching or has surpassed it's peak intensity in a number of countries, governments are rushing to chart roadmaps to exit lockdowns. Mandatory shelter-in-place requirements and shutdowns of businesses and public activities have imposed a significant toll, not only on the economy, but also mental and emotional well-being of the public. So there is considerable pressure on governments to lift restrictions. But public health experts and epidemiolog

Rapidly changing behaviors while exiting lockdown Repetition of tasks over decades reduced our risk perception towards many daily activities - like driving or crossing roads. However, the recent pandemic pushed us to perceive risk towards otherwise normal activities much more carefully. But these forced evaluation of risks are likely to be very temporary and associated perceptions can jump back to previous levels too quickly. Here is where leaving lockdown, even in a phased m

Physical Distancing has become a key requirement to contain the spread of the Coronavirus. But it has been challenging for many societies and countries to observe it to the tee, given the human tendency to underestimate the risk and chance of infection. As coping fatigue develops, especially in nations where the lockdown has been extended, it becomes very important to frame and communicate messages about physical-distancing in a way that motivates people to stay compliant to

Lockdown and Distancing Importance of physical distancing in a pandemic cannot be stressed enough, yet the act itself is very much against the basic nature of humans, resulting in a complex set of problems. For starters, it is relatively more difficult to obey rules imposed by others versus our own. This gets more challenging when new rules interfere with our personal space - likes of physical distancing and economic goals given we are social creatures engaged in continuous e

Risk Compensation Once the challenge of adherence to mask wearing is addressed, the next challenge is its implications on other behaviours. Like how having ABS in cars can make certain drivers more confident in driving at higher speeds, wearing masks can give a false sense of security that one is much safer now, given you are doing something that you usually would not do (especially having overcome substantial inertia). Therefore, this false sense of security can lead to comp