We welcome Martin Mühleisen, who until last year ran the International Monetary Fund’s Strategy, Policy, and Review Department. In a frank and wide ranging discussion, Martin assesses the global policy response to the pandemic, its seismic scale, impact, and potential costs. He considers our two generational challenges, inequality and climate change, and mulls over the political and macro cyclical dimensions of fighting these two trends. Martin is wary of multilateral over-reach, especially in the context of the IMF. He is also worried about likely sovereign debt restructurings ahead among some developing economies, and the issue of involving China, which has become a large creditor to these nations in recent years. Martin remains optimistic that the medium term outlook can benefit from more dispersion of technology, along with measures to assist the population through the disruptive aspects of technology and climate transition.