Centre Marc Bloch

In April 2020, for the first time, the Bretton Woods Institutions – the IMF and World Bank – held their spring meetings virtually. They met under the slogan “A Global Crisis Like No Other”. The slogan captured the drama of the moment. It also made a strong historical claim. What do the economic analysts of the IMF and the World Bank mean when they assert that 2020 is an unprecedented economic event? What historical frameworks might be useful in helping to locate the economic shock of 2020.