In the current COVID-19 crisis, as in all crises, public policy dialogue and debate are heavily informed by history. Our instinct is to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. But in seeking to avoid past mistakes, we risk committing new ones.

The first questions that reporters and financial analysts invariably ask are, "How does the current crisis compare with the global financial crisis and the Great Depression?" and "How powerful is the monetary and fiscal policy response compared with 2008-9?"