It requires leadership from political leaders, from business organisations, and from community leaders also. But as those with a professional understanding of tariffs, budgets, monetary policy, taxes, and all the rest, economists surely have a major responsibility to help in building public understanding of the choices and the dilemmas.
Investors were intent on preserving their capital and remaining as liquid as possible. Many sold their more risky existing assets and the prices of these assets declined, in some cases significantly. There was an even more precipitous decline in the demand for new assets, with aggregate investment in many countries dropping to very low levels as a share of GDP.