scholarly journals Economic Cascades and the Costs of a Business-as-Usual Approach to COVID-19

Author(s):  
Peter Roopnarine ◽  
David Goodwin ◽  
Maricela Abarca ◽  
Joseph Russack

Shelter-in-place policies and the closure of non-essential workplaces intended to disrupt transmission of the SARS-COV-2 virus are effective approaches to combating COVID-19. They have, however, caused record levels of unemployment in the United States, raising questions of whether mitigation is more societally damaging than the disease. Here we use a coupled epidemiological-economic model to estimate the impact on employment of an unmitigated, business-as-usual approach to the pandemic. We compared unemployment between March-August 2020 in ten Californian socio-economic systems (SESs) to unemployment forecast by a model of industrial sector inter-dependencies subjected to unmitigated outbreaks of COVID-19. We found that economic losses are unavoidable because disease-driven losses propagate economically through SESs, amplifying losses to the disease. While model forecasts are generally lower than actual unemployment, jobs savings would come at the cost of greatly increased worker mortality. The costs would also be disproportionately greater among smaller and inland SESs.

1979 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip R. P. Coelho ◽  
James F. Shepherd

Differences in regional prices and wages are examined for the United States in 1890, together with the relationship between the cost of living and city size, and the determinants of regional industrial growth. Results indicate that regional cost-of-liying differences were sufficiently large so that money wages cannot be used for purposes of comparing the economic well-being of wage earners across regions. Except for the South, money wages and the cost of living were positively correlated. The relative differences in money wages, however, were greater; consequently real wages in high wage-price areas were generally higher.


2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
John McManus

The world software industry and associated markets are estimated to be worth 1.1 trillion US Dollars, ninety percent of the world's exports in software is from the United States and Europe evidence would also suggest that outside the United States and Europe, the new and emerging countries within the software industry are Brazil, Russia, India and China (known as the BRIC Nations). The Software industry greatly affects the economic systems of these countries. Although figures vary these emerging markets account currently for around 6 per cent of global export markets. While “lower cost labour” is the most commonly cited reason for offshoring, intense global competition in an environment of slower growth and low inflation demands constant vigilance over costs. Due to low costs and high quality, using offshore resources in selected countries seems to make good economic sense. Beyond the cost incentive, global sourcing provides several other practical benefits including: the ability of multinational organisations to efficiently stage all year round operations; the opportunity to customize products and services to meet local needs; and the means of geographically deploying workers and facilities to succeed in globally dispersed, highly competitive markets. This paper examines some of the issues within these emerging countries within the wider global software industry.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jina Yu ◽  
David A. Hennessy ◽  
Felicia Wu

Abstract Previous field studies have reached no collective consensus on whether Bt corn, one of the most commonly planted transgenic crops worldwide, has significantly lower aflatoxin levels than non-Bt isolines. Aflatoxin, a mycotoxin contaminating corn and other commodities, causes liver cancer in humans and can pose severe economic losses to farmers. We found that from 2001–2016, a significant inverse correlation existed between Bt corn planting and aflatoxin-related insurance claims in the United States, when controlling for temperature and drought. Estimated benefits of aflatoxin reduction resulting from Bt corn planting are about $120 million to $167 million per year over 16 states on average. These results suggest that Bt corn use is an important strategy in reducing aflatoxin risk, with corresponding economic benefits. If the same principles hold true in other world regions, then Bt corn hybrids adapted to diverse agronomic regions may have a role in reducing aflatoxin in areas prone to high aflatoxin contamination, and where corn is a dietary staple.


2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 625-679 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Kunz ◽  
B. Mühr ◽  
T. Kunz-Plapp ◽  
J.E. Daniell ◽  
B. Khazai ◽  
...  

Abstract. At the end of October 2012, Hurricane Sandy moved from the Caribbean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean and entered the United States not far from New York. Along its track, Sandy caused more than 200 fatalities and severe losses in Jamaica, Bahamas, Haiti, Cuba, and the US. This paper demonstrates the capability and potential for near-real time analysis of catastrophes. It is shown that the impact of Sandy was driven by the superposition of different extremes (high wind speeds, storm surge, heavy precipitation) and by cascading effects. In particular the interaction between Sandy and an extra-tropical weather system created a huge storm that affected large areas in the US. It is examined how Sandy compares to historic hurricane events, both from a hydro-meteorological and impact perspective. The distribution of losses to different sectors of the economy is calculated with simple input-output models as well as government estimates. Direct economic losses are estimated about 4.2 billion US$ in the Caribbean and between 78 and 97 billion US$ for the US. Indirect economic losses from power outages is estimated in the order of 16.3 billion US$. Modelling sector-specific dependencies, quantifies total business interruption losses between 10.8 and 15.5 billion US$. Thus, seven years after the record impact of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Hurricane Sandy is the second costliest hurricane in the history of the United States.


Author(s):  
Jeffrey F. Clunie

This paper focuses on significant changes in the overall economics of waste-to-energy (WTE) during the last 30 years. The WTE industry in this country has seen several different business cycles occur since 1975, as different market drivers have caused the industry to rise and fall. This paper compares: (1) those economic factors that were in play in 1975, when the first WTE facility in the United States was built, and the industry was in its infancy; (2) the factors at play when the WTE industry was at its height in 1990; and (3) some of the factors that caused the industry’s steep downward trend since 1994, when the last greenfield WTE facility in the United States was built. The paper will identify changes that have occurred with regard to the pricing of electricity and the ability of public sectors to charge non-market-based tipping fees. The paper discusses the drivers of 2006 and focuses on completed economic factors to be considered when comparing WTE with other waste disposal means. The paper discusses the drivers of 2006 and whether the industry is finally poised to begin an upward turn in the cycle. The paper focuses on the impact of the cost of diesel fuel oil on the overall economics of long-haul transfer, and how that is likely to impact the future development of WTE facilities. The paper also presents a case study of a recent analysis that was undertaken for two counties that were evaluating the financial viability of WTE as compared to other disposal options.


Author(s):  
Kristen Tannas

In this paper, a calculation of cost of the First World War to the United States is performed with the aim of evaluating the impact of the War on the American economy. The method used to make this calculation is based on the work of economic historians Claudia Goldin and Frank Lewis, who studied the cost of the American Civil War. This method involves the calculation first of the “direct cost” of the war, which represents the value of economic losses made up of war expenditures, casualties and the opportunity cost of drafted soldiers. The “indirect cost” of the War is also calculated to measure the impact of the War on American economic growth by projecting economic growth in a hypothetical world where the First World War did not occur and comparing it to the economic growth actually experienced in the United States. This calculation is meant to capture any positive effects that the War may have had. For the calculations, data was drawn from a number of primary sources including censuses and government documents. The results of both of these calculations show that the First World War had a negative impact on American growth and represented a massive drain of economic resources. In particular, the indirect cost calculation shows that American growth slowed considerably in the decade following the War. This result is significant as it contradicts the common view of the postwar period prior to the Great Depression as being one of great prosperity in the United States.


2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 835-844 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Nuijten ◽  
Agnieszka Marczewska ◽  
Krysmaru Araujo Torres ◽  
Bahareh Rasouli ◽  
Moreno Perugini

Science ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 311 (5759) ◽  
pp. 347-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
John-Marc Chandonia ◽  
Steven E. Brenner

Structural genomics (SG) projects aim to expand our structural knowledge of biological macromolecules while lowering the average costs of structure determination. We quantitatively analyzed the novelty, cost, and impact of structures solved by SG centers, and we contrast these results with traditional structural biology. The first structure identified in a protein family enables inference of the fold and of ancient relationships to other proteins; in the year ending 31 January 2005, about half of such structures were solved at a SG center rather than in a traditional laboratory. Furthermore, the cost of solving a structure at the most efficient SG center in the United States has dropped to one-quarter of the estimated cost of solving a structure by traditional methods. However, the efficiency of the top structural biology laboratories—even though they work on very challenging structures—is comparable to that of SG centers; moreover, traditional structural biology papers are cited significantly more often, suggesting greater current impact.


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