If euro-zone GDP is permanently lower in the aftermath of the coronavirus crisis, as was the case after the subprime crisis, how should the loss of GDP be distributed?

It is very likely that in the aftermath of the coronavirus crisis, as was the case after the 2008-2009 crisis, the loss in the level of euro-zone GDP caused by the crisis will never be made up. An important economic policy question is then the optimal distribution of the income loss between the different economic agents: governments, households (employees) and companies. In the wake of the 2008-2009 crisis, it was households (employees) in the euro zone that suffered the permanent loss of income (of the level of GDP), not governments or companies (and their shareholders). This is because: Euro-zone countries cannot have a permanent loss of funding; Companies want to restore their profitability and their capacity to invest. If one wanted to reduce the permanent loss of income suffered by euro-zone households, one would have to: Either accept a permanent fall in government tax revenues, but this would ultimately also harm households; Or accept less favourable income distributor for companies, and, if investment has to be maintained, higher corporate debt financed by households on their higher incomes.