Coronavirus and the lessons we can learn from the 1918-1920 Great Influenza Pandemic

Mar 23, 2020

An unusual feature of the pandemic was the high mortality among young adults without pre-existing medical conditions. Image: Wikicommons

Robert Barro

Professor of Economics, Harvard University

Jose Ursua

Macroeconomist and Investment Committee Member, Dodge & Cox

Joanna Weng

Co-founder, EverLife

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Figure 1 Flu death rates during the Great Influenza Pandemic (sum 1918-1920) Image: Source: Table 1 in Barro, et al. (2020) and sources cited therein.

Figure 2 Baseline estimates of the impact of flu and war death rates on GDP and consumption in typical country Image: Source: Tables 1-3 in Barro, et al. (2020).

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