Use stimulus packages for longer term progress

SYDNEY: The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic seems to have finally forced governments around the world to ditch their obsession (at least for the moment) with delivering budget surpluses. As stock markets tumble, stimulus measures, worth billions of dollars, are announced to boost investor confidence and consumer spending to keep economies running.

The shift in fiscal strategy is welcome; hopefully the measures will provide some relief to the struggling individuals, families and businesses. But they are shortsighted insofar as most proposed measures do not address the underlying economic malaise even before the Covid-19 pandemic.