I want to emphasize that this is first and foremost a public health crisis, and a human tragedy. It’s our doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals who are on the front lines, fighting this disease and caring for those who are suffering. We owe them a great debt of gratitude. My sincere thanks is also with the grocery store workers, those in law enforcement and transportation, and everyone who continues to carry out essential work each day. The Scale of the Challenge The necessary actions taken to slow and contain the spread of the coronavirus are not only changing how we live our lives, but are also having a profound effect on the economy and financial markets, both here and abroad. Although many people have drawn comparisons with the financial crisis of 2008, the current turmoil is fundamentally different from recessions of the past. The challenges before us do not stem from vulnerabilities at banks or the bursting of a bubble—I can only liken them to a natural disaster of global proportions. If we look back to February, the American economy was strong, with unemployment at historical lows. But, now, social distancing and other restrictions imposed in response to the pandemic are causing severe, rapid declines in jobs and income. Unprecedented numbers have filed for unemployment insurance in the past several weeks alone, and we know that more economic pain is still to come. The reality is that the full scale of the economic consequences is still unknown.
In the afternoon we will feature Sujit Kapadia and Prasanna Gai with an analysis of financial contagion using a network model. In addition, there will be two panels that will review financial risk management with two important nuances: its incidence in emerging economies on one hand, and on systemically significant financial institutions, on the other. The economists invited to these panels include Michael Bordo, Paul McCulley, Martín Redrado, José Darío Uribe, Martin Wolf and Roberto Zahler. Finally, Charles Calomiris will share with us his vision on the current crisis and the implications of the works presented in this conference. Two intense days that hold in store enormous technical content that, without any doubt, will make a fundamental contribution to our future view of macroeconomic and financial phenomena. I want to finish by thanking Rodrigo Alfaro, Dale Gray and Jorge Selaive for their work in putting together this conference. Also Mauricio Calani, Mónica Correa and Soledad Gallardo, and our Institutional Affairs Management for their help in organizing this event. I also want to thank the many authors and discussants of the papers for their dedication to preparing their valuable presentations. To all of you, dear participants, I wish you two days of fruitful discussion. Thank you. BIS Review 134/2008  3