Webinar: Federalism during Times of Coronavirus – Curse or Blessing?

In its 'KOF Beyond Borders' series of events, KOF looks beyond national borders to facilitate a dialogue with economists from Austria and Germany. Although all three countries are organised on a federal basis, they have adopted their own approaches to the coronavirus crisis.

On the one hand, federalism can help governments to take measures that are more suited to the regional development of the pandemic. This can also increase public acceptance of the measures. On the other hand, federalist systems can prevent swift and straightforward intervention, thus wasting valuable time. Moreover, the virus does not stop at borders, so regionally differentiated measures can prevent effective attempts to combat the pandemic.

Who pays for these measures?

Questions about federalism also arise when it comes to financing the crisis: who will pay for these measures, the rescue packages and the associated healthcare costs? If cantons adopt different approaches and the costs that they incur vary, how should they be paid for?

These questions will be answered by three speakers at the webinar: Monika Köppl-Turyna (Director of EcoAustria) will report from Austria, Lars P. Feld (Director of the Walter Eucken Institute) will give the German perspective and Jan-Egbert Sturm (Director of KOF) will talk about Switzerland.