Pandemics Depress the Economy, Public Health Interventions Do Not: Evidence from the 1918 Flu

124 Pages Posted: 3 Aug 2022

See all articles by Sergio Correia

Sergio Correia

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Stephan Luck

Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Emil Verner

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management

Date Written: June 5, 2020

Abstract

We study the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) on mortality and economic activity across U.S. cities during the 1918 Flu Pandemic. The combination of fast and stringent NPIs reduced peak mortality by 50% and cumulative excess mortality by 24% to 34%. However, while the pandemic itself was associated with short-run economic disruptions, we find that these disruptions were similar across cities with strict and lenient NPIs. NPIs also did not worsen medium-run economic outcomes. Our findings indicate that NPIs can reduce disease transmission without further depressing economic activity, a finding also reflected in discussions in contemporary newspapers.

Note:
Funding Information: No funding or grant has been received for conducting the study.

Conflict of Interests: I declare no competing interest.

Keywords: 1918 Flu Pandemic, non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI), real economy

JEL Classification: I10, I18, E32, H1

Suggested Citation

Correia, Sergio and Luck, Stephan and Verner, Emil, Pandemics Depress the Economy, Public Health Interventions Do Not: Evidence from the 1918 Flu (June 5, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3561560 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3561560

Sergio Correia

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ( email )

20th Street and Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20551
United States

Stephan Luck

Federal Reserve Bank of New York ( email )

33 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10045
United States

Emil Verner (Contact Author)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management ( email )

77 Massachusetts Avenue
50 Memorial Drive
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
United States

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