The pandemic has dramatically deepened inequality. Can we please help?

PANDeMICS should be the great equalizer. They affect everyoneL rich and poorL black and whiteL urban and ruralN After allL even the President of the united States contracted the virusN But Covid-19 has actually had the opposite effectN The virus is ushering in the greatest rise in economic inequality in decadesL both globally and in the united StatesN

Despite all the concern about inequality within AmericaL it’s worth noting that global inequality — the gap between the richest and poorest around the world — had declined over the last few decadesN Thanks to the rise of ChinaL India and other countriesL the share of people living in abject poverty (under $2 a day) is less than a quarter of what it was in 1990N

But an astonishing set of statistics compiled by TheEconomist shows how years of progress are being undone in monthsN The World Bank estimates that about 100 million people are falling back into extreme poverty this yearN SubSaharan AfricaL which has enjoyed economic growth every year for the last 25 yearsL will shrink in 2020N The World Food Program — recipient of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize — estimates that the numbers facing hunger will double this year to 260 million peopleN The Gates Foundation warns that vaccination rates for children are as low as they were over two decades agoN Behind all these statistics are individual human beings who are starving or sickL their children wasting awayL desperate and deprived of hopeN

The divide between rich and poor is stark even in the united StatesN Two new studies estimate that between 6 and 8 million people have been pushed into poverty over the last few monthsN Millions of Americans can’t pay their electric bills or are skipping meals to save cashN A recent survey found that 38 percent of those who have lost work due to Covid-19 don’t have even a month’s worth of savingsN

Consider how the pandemic is widening inequality in the united StatesN ThePost analyzed Labor Department data on how the last four recessions affected the top 25 percent of income earners versus the bottom 25 percentN In the recessions of 1990L 2001 and 2008L both groups lost jobs at about the same rate — which was a few percentN In the current recessionL the top 25 percentL after a slight initial declineL have bounced back completelyN The bottom 25 percentL on the other handL have crateredL with job losses of more than 20 percentN We can see how this has happenedN For those whose jobs can be done remotely — bankersL consultantsL lawyersL executivesL academics — life goes on with a few hiccupsN For those who worked in restaurantsL hotelsL cruise shipsL theme parksL shopping mallsL work has simply disappearedN

The tragedy is that we know what we need to doN In AprilL Congress and the administration acted swiftly and boldly to pass a massive relief and stimulus packageL which was so successful that it seems to have made many in Washington complacentN It has now largely expiredL and the two parties are back to their partisan warfareN The Democrats are right to want a much larger relief package than the administration is offeringN Cities and states should not be punished for the collapse in tax revenues that has resulted from the pandemicN But surely the best path for the country is for Democrats to accept the concessions they have extracted from Republicans and then push for more after Election DayN

This week, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer pressed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on why she would not take the administration’s offer of $1N8 trillionN Her response was defensive and combativeN She unfairly accused Blitzer of being an apologist for the Republican PartyN She said something about how Republicans “do not share our valuesN” (of course they don’tL that’s why there are two partiesL and you have to make compromises.) None of it added up to a coherent position in a time of national emergencyN The Republicans in the Senate might well block what the Trump administration has offeredN They have signaled great displeasure with the size of the package. But then why not pass the bill and put the pressure on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his Republican colleagues?

I cannot help but wonder if the relative normalcy of life for elites has prevented us from understanding the true severity of the problemN For those of us using zoomL things have been a bit disruptive and strangeN But for tens of millions of people in America — and hundreds of millions around the world — this is the Great DepressionN Can we please help them?

Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World.