The advent of the global Covid-19 crisis created new challenges for businesses, workers, and policymakers. Their outcomes have transforming implications for all countries, industries, businesses of all sizes, and societies. The Covid-19 twin economic and health crises call for a deep reflection on the forces that will shape the future of the global economy. In fact the outbreak of Covid-19 and the lockdown policies imposed worldwide generated a global economic crisis which challenges the traditional explanations of economic downturns and the way we are used to understanding and handling business cycles. This WEA Conference, organized in cooperation with the Center for Market Education (CME, www.marketedu.org) and led by Dr Carmelo Ferlito and Prof Dr Maria Alejandra Madi, aims to discuss recent contributions to the understanding of the Covid-19 economic crisis and its “lockdown” governance in terms of its consequences for policy making, business trends and social challenges. The conference also focuses on bridging the gap between different economic theoretical approaches and the practical applications of economic theories in a pluralist approach.