- January 15, 2021
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- June 20, 2025
On January 15, 2021, Aspen Germany hosted the sixth event of its series “Virtual Road to the Laboratories of Democracy Initiative” to discuss the economic impact of COVID-19 on state economies. The COVID-19 pandemic is far more than a global health crisis. It is also severely affecting our economies, leading to both a global recession as well as individual economic suffering through loss of jobs. The pandemic and its economic impact are mutually dependent, resulting in a risky balancing act when it comes to mitigating all at the same time. This webinar will address how COVID-19 has affected state economies. It will explore best practices to keeping the negative effects on the economy within manageable levels. How are U.S. states and German Länder countering the economic downturn? What are the biggest challenges they face in this effort? How have federal and state-based mitigation measures influenced the course of economic recovery? How have state legislatures in Germany and the U.S. been involved? How are the different levels of government (local, state, federal level) working together to get the economy back on track?
This webinar series is part of the “Laboratories of Democracy Initiative” which brings together German and American state legislators to facilitate a values-based discussion and an exchange of ideas about how to tackle current international policy challenges on a subnational level. In 2020 due to COVID-19, Aspen Germany holds a series of webinars as part of a “Virtual Road to the Laboratories of Democracy Initiative” providing a virtual platform for exchange for the 2020 cohort. The webinar series explores subnational governance in the United States and Germany amid COVID-19, leadership in times of crisis, the role of tech in the COVID-19 response, and prospects for German-American cooperation. The project is supported by the Transatlantic Program of the Federal Republic of Germany, funded by the European Recovery Program (ERP) of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (BMWi).
