Pandemics, Economics and Inequality
Lessons from the Spanish Flu
joint with Jordi Domènech and Joan R. Rosés
Now available through Palgrave Macmillan
This book provides a framework for understanding the economic and potentially unequal effects of pandemics, focusing closely on the Spanish Flu. It provides an in-depth analysis of the different effects of the Spanish Flu on the economy from unequal mortality to wages, housing and output. There is a general review of the literature but an important feature of this book is that it explains results using data from Spain, an ideal country to perform this exercise, as its mortality data is not affected by the First World War. Spain was also developed enough to have reliable data, but it was very heterogeneous across regions which will allow a comparison of more and less developed regions. No other book exists that offers a comprehensive and data-driven view of the effects of the Spanish Flu, which is the closest pandemic example to Covid-19. With the outbreak of Covid-19 increasing the need to learn about the economic effects of pandemics, this book will be of interest to academics and students of economic history, macroeconomics (economic crises) and economic development, as well being accessible for the general reader.
Endorsements
"Economics is ambiguous about the economic effects of population shocks and only empirical research provides an answer. This concise volume presents a broad sweep of the 1918 Spanish Flu shock offering a fresh, precise, and thorough assessment of its impact on population, economic growth, and income distribution in the best Cliometric tradition. A well informed and analytical book, accessible to the non-specialist, is an indispensable read for those interested in how pandemics can affect societies." -Leandro Prados de la Escosura, University Carlos III of Madrid.
"The economic effects of pandemics have never been more relevant. As this important book argues, the flu pandemic of 1918-19 created an economic depression that was comparable to the Great Depression of the 1930s. Bringing new evidence to light on wages, capital, and inequality the book provides an innovative, powerful, and sobering analysis of the shockwaves that the pandemic sent through the Spanish economy." -Patrick Wallis, London School of Economics.