One of the key issues the world grappled with during COVID-19 was the distributional implications of lockdowns globally. The shadow of lockdown policies continues when nations still try to emerge out of the pandemic. Heterogeneity herein over time, country and even within nations in policy making resulted in unintended consequences and debates between citizens, scientists, policy makers and civil society. Responses to COVID-19 meanwhile tried to balance a long run approach which involved the health sector, built on an innovation-oriented mindset and kept in mind the broader economic implications of policy decisions for the future. Flattening the Curve is an effort to summarize these learnings from COVID-19, especially for future pandemics in this age of zoonotic diseases and the Anthropocene. Assembling scholars, scientists, innovators and entrepreneurs from across a variety of fields, this edited volume brings an interdisciplinary understanding to how the world can better respond socially to pandemics. It should be of immense value for students, scholars, policy makers and researchers in public policy, global health, economics, science and innovation policy, as well as regulation and business.
Chirantan Chatterjee is a Reader in Economics of Innovation at SPRU-Sussex, University of Sussex where he is also Co-Director of Policy Training & Executive Education. Chatterjee is also a Visiting Fellow at Hoover Institution, Stanford University & Visiting Adjunct Professor in Economics at IIM Ahmedabad. His details are at <a href="https://profiles.sussex.ac.uk/p535606-chirantan-chatterjee" target="blank">https://profiles.sussex.ac.uk/p535606-chirantan-chatterjee</a>.
Anindya Chakrabarti is an Associate Professor in Economics and UTI Chair at IIM Ahmedabad, where he is also Co-Chairperson of the Brij Disa Center for Data Science and AI. His details are at <a href="https://www.iima.ac.in/web/faculty/faculty-profiles/anindya-chakrabarti" target="blank">https://www.iima.ac.in/web/faculty/faculty-profiles/anindya-chakrabarti</a>.
Anil Deolalikar is the Founding Dean of the School of Public Policy at University of California, Riverside, where he is also a Professor of Economics. Anil is also Chair of the Board of Directors of the University of California Global Health Institute (UCGHI). His details are at <a href="https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/anild" target="blank">https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/anild</a>.