It's indisputablethattheSpanishFlutook a majortollonhumanlife, butcanthesamereallybesaidforitseffectontheglobaleconomy?
Let's take a moredetailedlookattheeconomicaftermathoftheSpanishFlutofindout.
ItcanbesurprisinglydifficulttoanalyzetheeconomicimpactofthepandemicbecauseitseffectsonthefinancialworldaredifficulttodisentanglefromtheeffectsofWorldWar I as a whole.
TheWorldEconomicForumestimatesthattheaverageGDPandconsumptionpercapitafellby 6 and 8 percent, respectively, butthere's stillsignificantgapsinthedata.
IfWorldWar I hadn't occurredjustprior, wemayhavebeenlookingat a completelydifferentsetofcircumstances.
Unlikemanydiseases, whichtypicallytargettheyoung, sick, andtheelderly, theSpanishFlukilled a disproportionatenumberofmenandwomenaged 15 to 44.
As a result, intheimmediateaftermathofthediseasewhenbusinessesfinallyreopened, theywerefacedwithmassivelaborshortagesthankstothehugenumberofdeathsfrompeopleinprimeworkingage.
Interestingly, fortheremainingworkers, therewereactuallywageincreasesbecausethepost-flueconomyput a realpremiumonlabor.
Inotherwords, intheaftermathofthisglobalpandemic, a goodworkerwashardtofind, andwhenyouhappenedtogetyourhandsonone, itwasworth a wageincreasetoretainthem.
Howwasitpossibleforsuch a hugecatastrophetohavesuchanunderwhelmingeffectonglobaleconomicsystems?
Well, therearesometheories.
Forexample, theeconomywassignificantlylesscentralizedin 1918 and 1919, meaningdifferentareasborethebruntoftheirownminiatureeconomicstrugglesratherthanexperiencingeverynationwidecatastropheas a single, devastatingpunch.
Ontopofthat, becausethesecondwaveoftheSpanishFluoccurredduringthefirstWorldWar, ithadnosupplychainstodisrupt, andtheoveralleffectbarelyregisteredonthestockmarketasmorethan a blip.
We'redealingwith a morecomplexandcentralizedeconomy, theworldpopulationissignificantlyhigher, andglobalconnectivityallowsforvirusestospreadfasterthaneverbefore.