Do non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) aimed at reducing mortality during a pandemic necessarily have adverse economic effects? We use variation in the timing and intensity of NPIs across U.S. cities during the 1918 Flu Pandemic to examine their economic impact. While the pandemic itself was...

Infectious disease outbreaks such as COVID-19 pose significant public health threats and challenges worldwide due to their high transmissibility and potentially severe symptoms and complications. Although public health interventions such as social distancing and lockdown can slow the disease...