Regaining Control: Malaysian Economic Policy During Covid and Beyond

Regaining Control: Malaysian Economic Policy during COVID and Beyond is a collection of essays that address the impact of recent events, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic, on Malaysia’s economic policies and the way forward. The essays were previously published in various print and online publications. The pandemic presented a significant challenge to Malaysia, which was not immune to the global economic turmoil caused by COVID-19. The resulting movement control order had a particularly adverse impact on the livelihoods of the B40 and M40 categories. Despite the crisis, social unrest was avoided due to competent management. The pandemic had a severe impact on Malaysia’s economy, as expected. Globalisation was disrupted, causing shortages of essential supplies, breakdowns in supply chains, and an oversupply of vaccines in developed countries compared to developing ones. The pandemic exposed the worst aspects of capitalism, including a trend towards nationalistic frameworks in several developed countries.

Shankaran Nambiar is a senior research fellow at the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER). He is the editor of Reassessing Poverty in Malaysia, and the author of Sen's Capability Approach and Institutions, as well as several books on the Malaysian economy.