The World Bank named Harvard University professor Carmen Reinhart as its chief economist, tapping an expert in the history of debt and financial crises as the global economy suffers its deepest downturn since the Great Depression.

The pandemic is amplifying the risk of a world-wide food-price spike, which would trigger outright crises in many developing countries. Governments must therefore work together to address disruptions to food supply chains and prevent food protectionism from becoming the post-pandemic new normal.

HOW DO WE AVOID a disastrous humanitarian crisis in developing countries as we emerge from the pandemic lockdowns? Will economic justice be harder or easier to attain after COVID-19? How do we get our nation back to work? Should we focus on the surging federal debt?

Argentina's creditors are being asked to accept a proposal that would reduce their revenue stream but make it sustainable. A responsible resolution will set a positive precedent, not only for Argentina, but for the international financial system as a whole.

Argentina’s latest effort to restructure its overseas debt probably won’t be its last, according to Harvard University economist Carmen Reinhart, who has sounded alarms over coming emerging markets crises in Venezuela and Turkey.

Leaders of the world’s largest economies must recognize that a return to “normal” in our globalized world is not possible so long as the pandemic continues its grim march. It is myopic for creditors, official and private, to expect debt repayments from countries where those resources would have to be diverted from combating COVID-19.

The stubbornness of inflation continues to challenge and mystify central bankers worldwide, Carmen Reinhart writes. But despite variances in different national situations—for instance, in Argentina and in Japan—policymakers are effectively wrestling with the same problem.