The Economy, Climate Change and Infectious Diseases: Links and Policy
Implications
#MMPMID32836835
Brock W
; Xepapadeas A
Environ Resour Econ (Dordr)
2020[]; 76
(4
): 811-824
PMID32836835
show ga
This short paper provides a modeling framework for unifying the economy, climate
change and the outbreak of infectious diseases such as the recent COVID-19
pandemic. We stress that continuous growth of consumption activities, capital
accumulation and climate change could increase the potential of the epidemic, its
contact number or the probability of its arrival. This framework of analysis
allows us to think of infectious disease policies in two stages. In the short
run, containment policies like social distancing could help to stop the epidemic.
In the medium and the long run, economic policies could help to reduce the
potential of the epidemic or the probability of its emergence.