CGD in the News

How Fear of Ebola Could Impact the US Economy (ABC News)

October 03, 2014

From the article 

Mead Over, senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, told ABC News that since Nigeria has succeeded in containing the outbreak, he expects the United States’ stronger public health system to quickly contain the disease in Dallas or if any other infected traveler arrives elsewhere.

Any economic impact on the stock market or in travel is not the impact of the disease per se but the impact of largely irrational "aversion behavior,” Mead said. “The impact of aversion behavior on the markets is like a speculative bubble, but in reverse," adding he expects this “reverse bubble” to collapse in a matter of weeks, as Americans realize that a strong public health system can protect them.

Read the article here

Topics