Contributor(s): Dr Eduardo Cavallo, Marla Dukharan, Dr Andrew Powell, Professor Andrés Velasco | The year 2020 will be remembered as one of the most challenging in modern history. Latin America and the Caribbean lost 7.4% of GDP, the largest drop on record in a single year. The region is expected to recover in 2021 but faces a hazardous time ahead. Most countries will require some type of adjustment to maintain fiscal sustainability. While the way forward will be challenging, specific public policies should help countries realize a stronger recovery, not just to the low growth rates of the pre-pandemic period, but to higher rates of growth that will benefit all, with more efficient public policies, higher productivity in the private sector, and more sustainable economies. Meet our speakers and chair Eduardo Cavallo is Principal Economist at the Research Department of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington DC. Prior to joining the IDB, Eduardo was a Vice-President and Senior Latin American Economist for Goldman Sachs in New York. Eduardo had already worked at the IDB as a Research Economist between 2006 and 2010. Before that he served as a research fellow at the Center for International Development (CID), a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and a member of the faculty at the Kennedy School of Government's Summer Program. In Argentina he co-founded Fundación Grupo Innova. Marla Dukharan (@Marladukharan) is a Caribbean economist. She is a point of reference for monitoring regional developments and country-level economic performance, and is known for leading discussions and publishing reports on the Caribbean implications of global geopolitical developments. Marla has become a key influencer in public-private sector engagement and decision making. Because of her deep commitment to making a difference, Marla has become a leading voice in the call to reduce gender and income inequality, eliminate corruption, and to improve the resilience of our economies through the introduction of fiscal responsibility frameworks. Andrew Powell (@AndyPowell_IDB) is the Principal Advisor in the Research Department (RES) at the Inter-American Development Bank. He holds a Ba, MPhil. and DPhil. (PhD) from the University of Oxford, was Lecturer at Queen Mary’s College, London and at the University of Warwick. He was Chief Economist of the Central Bank of the Republic of Argentina and Professor at the Universidad Torcuato di Tella in Buenos Aires. He has been Visiting Scholar at Harvard University, at the IMF and at the World Bank. Andrés Velasco (@AndresVelasco) is Professor of Public Policy and Dean of the School of Public Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Gareth Jones is Director of the Latin America and Caribbean Centre at LSE. He is Professor of Urban Geography in the Department of Geography and Environment at LSE and an Associate Member of the International Inequalities Institute. Susana Mourato, Pro-Director (Research) at LSE, Malcolm Geere, Inter-American Development Bank Executive Director for the United Kingdom and Eric Parrado Herrera, Chief Economist and General Manager of the Research Department of the Inter-American Development Bank will deliver introductory remarks. More about this event You can read Inter-American Development Bank’s 2021 Latin American and Caribbean Macroeconomic Report on ‘Opportunities for Stronger and Sustainable Postpandemic Growth’ at Opportunities for Stronger and Sustainable Post-Pandemic Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Latin America and Caribbean Centre (@LSE_LACC) is the focal point for LSE’s research and public engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean, the Centre builds upon the School’s long and important relationship with the region. The LSE School of Public Policy (@LSEPublicPolicy) is an international community where ideas and practice meet. Our approach creates professionals with the ability to analyse, understand and resolve the challenges of contemporary governance. The Inter-American Development Bank (@the_IDB) is the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean. This event forms part of LSE’s Shaping the Post-COVID World initiative, a series imagining what the world could look like after the crisis, and how we get there.