Robust Policy in Times of Pandemic.

Area of Science:

• Economics
• Policy Analysis
• Risk Management

Background:

• Pandemics introduce significant economic uncertainties for policymakers.
• Effective policy responses require robustness against unpredictable future scenarios.
• Existing strategies may not adequately address deep uncertainty.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare robust control and robust satisficing as strategies for policy under uncertainty.
• To evaluate which strategy is more appropriate for economic policy during crises.
• To analyze European crisis responses through the lens of these robust strategies.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual comparison of robust control and robust satisficing frameworks.
• Qualitative analysis of government and central bank crisis responses in Europe.
• Identification of features aligning with robust satisficing in policy actions.

Main Results:

• Robust satisficing is argued to be a more suitable approach for policy under fundamental uncertainty.
• European governments and central banks exhibited characteristics of robust satisficing in their pandemic responses.
• Specific dimensions of robust satisficing were identified in the analyzed crisis management.

Conclusions:

• Robust satisficing offers a pragmatic framework for policymaking amidst profound economic uncertainty.
• The observed European responses suggest a practical application of robust satisficing principles.
• Future policy design should consider robust satisficing for enhanced resilience to economic shocks.