By Ben Chaddha ’21, News Section Editor

As the Wuhan virus becomes more prominent, people are wondering whether it will escalate to a global pandemic. Many news sources such as The Economist and CNBC say that this is probable or even extremely likely. As the general public becomes more aware of the dangers of the exponentially growing Coronavirus, the global economy is suffering. After the first outbreak of Coronavirus occurred in the US the Dow Jones fell by 0.5%, the S&P 500 dropped by 0.3% and NASDAQ lost 0.2%. The fact that these indexes are changing by so much in such a short period is striking. Often these indexes drop directly after a tragic event occurs. For example, after 9/11 the market dropped 7.1%; interestingly, the stock market is now dropping before anything truly catastrophic has occurred with the Coronavirus. 

Throughout history, disaster has often had negative effects on the economy directly after it occurs. In many situations physical destruction is the root of these effects; however, the Coronavirus is different. The Coronavirus has caused many factories in China, such as facilities for both Apple and Boeing, to shut down. Moreover, some of the factories that have reopened are running with significantly fewer people working in them, leading to longer hours for workers and less productivity per factory. Interestingly, aside from the issue stated above, there’s nothing physically wrong with the global economy, yet the market continues to be unstable. This is primarily a result of the anticipation and uncertainty surrounding the virus. Despite some claims, the WHO has yet to label the Coronavirus outbreak as a global pandemic. 

Examining the outbreak of the Ebola virus in 2014 will provide a better understanding of what is occurring now. In February 2014, the Ebola Virus ravaged much of central Africa and spread to other continents such as North America. The similarities are very striking to the Coronavirus, but the Coronavirus has already infected over 75,000 people where the Ebola virus infected fewer than 30,000 in over a year. Overall, the Ebola engendered a loss of nearly 3 billion USD where the Coronavirus has already caused tens of billions of dollars of loss. Another important distinction between the two viruses’ effects on the economy is that China is the world’s second-largest economy, whereas Africa’s economy is nowhere near the same size. As a result, economists are predicting an even larger slump in the global economy, because many countries are reliant on China’s massive export industry. Overall, the Coronavirus has already had a massive impact on the economy, but its effects don’t seem to be slowing down.