International Economics Project
Section 1: Familiarization with the Global Issue of H1N1 in 2009
Question 1
In the 21st century, technology has grown so fast that the world has been transformed into a small village by globalization and the general growth of economies of countries as a result of industrialization and advancements in the manufacturing industry (Sutton 469). By countries harmonizing policies and creating trade unions has seen it a robust global trading environment. However, there have been several adverse effects that have come with globalization. The human race has been exposed to deadly diseases that occur as a result of trading activities not to forget the current COVID-19 virus. This project has utilized the constituents of the 2009 pandemic H1NI to exhibit the effects that come with globalization. The pandemic H1NI emerged in the spring of 2009 with the United States (U.S.) recording the first cases of the disease, and later, it spread across the world. The virus was fatal compared to its predecessor from the number of hospitalizations recorded. The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approximated up to 402,719 hospitalizations and 12,469 deaths in the U.S. alone, with at least 60.8 million people being infected across the world. Moreover, at least 575,400 people succumbed to the virus worldwide, with a significant percentage being people under 65 years of age. The number of deaths from the pandemic accounted for at least 0.007% of the world’s population. The virus was then ended on August 10, 2010, as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO). The world economy depreciated during this time since several sectors were not operational (Rassy and Smith 824). But since then, various mechanisms have been established that neutralized the virus into the common flu.
Section 2: Data-Driven Questions for 2010 H1N1
Question 2
Singapore and Sweden rank the highest and lowest, respectively, in terms of the cause of death by infectious diseases. This is not to my expectation given the country is developed.
Question 3
Singapore is observed to be having the highest level of openness of trade followed by Qatar, the Korea Republic with Japan, and the U.S. coming last in the list, respectively.
Question 4
- Communicable diseases are those that can be easily passed from one person to another. Globalization has widened the interaction between the people of various countries around the globe; this has exposed the human race to communicable diseases as they try to conduct trading activities around the world. By countries harmonizing/relaxing policies on cross border trade and creating successive trading blocs, it has eased trade across the globe. Ease of trade was a factor that had inhibited the growth of business and industry for a long-time but has been addressed in many favorite ways to include the use of common currency among countries of a given trading area. However, society has been left vulnerable to pandemics due to an increased level of interaction as a result of robust trading activities. According to Oppong, there is a positive relationship between globalization and infectious as it is evident from the ease of spread of pandemics across the world (223). A good number of diseases have easily been transmitted across the globe due to globalization. In most countries, the likes of coronavirus have been reported to be from individuals who had traveled to other countries where they contracted the disease unknowingly. They came back to their nations of origin and passed on to the others, which is another effect of globalization. Therefore, despite being a good thing, globalization can be detrimental if proactive measures are not followed in getting good use out of it.
- There exist a negative relationship between openness and cause of death by infectious diseases, as evident from the chart above. It can be seen that as the level of openness increases, there will be a decline in the cause of deaths by infectious diseases.
There still is a negative relationship between openness and causes of death by communicable diseases. Concerning (II) above, there is a further decline in the causes of death as the level of openness increases in this case. This is observed from the respective gradients of the lines in both charts.
There is a negative non-linear relationship between openness causes of death by communicable disease, and one cannot exactly determine with certainty by how much will the causes of death by communicable diseases decline as openness increases. This is because the level of openness across countries is not the same, while it is the key variable determining the various causes of death by communicable diseases. Therefore, the consequence named above becomes a gap in the study.
Section 3: Policy-based analysis
Question 5
- By the fact that health transition is a complex and non-linear state, the proper policy must be put in place to curb adverse effects that arise with it. By basing on the H1N1 pandemic of 2009, the following can be put in place to slow down COVID-19; first, the general improvements in pharmaceutical countermeasures must include stocking up of antivirals among other consumables that can help in neutralizing the virus. Second, there is the development and advancement of research institutes by channeling a substantial number of resources to smoothen the cure finding process. Third, according to Gresham et al., providing cross border check-up/screening units so that immigrants and emigrants do not become agents of spreading the disease is also necessary without forgetting contact tracing and surveillance to detect local cases (399-404). Fourth, there is the development of a knowledge base or awareness to provide populations with various precautionary measures that will enable them to stay safe (Rathi, Gandhi, and Francis 392-95). When situations worsen or when reported cases of infection from the virus escalates, the fifth measures will include mandatory quarantine, lockdowns, and curfews, which should be put in place to curb the spread of the pandemic. Finally, congestions, crowds, and public gatherings should be avoided at all costs as they are considered active sites for transmission of the virus, just but a few.
- Globalization has more good than harm, and therefore, despite the adverse effects that come with it, it should be protected at all costs. The following global policies have to be put in place to protect the interests of globalization. First and foremost is the effective development of new global health guidelines that will minimize both ill effects and those vulnerable to them by maximizing benefits and reducing health defects. Health has proven to be essential in all factors of development by reducing inequity, enhancing productivity, and strengthening both national and global security. Secondly, stakeholders must initiate lockdowns to porous borders to prevent illegal global interaction of people. Take the case of coronavirus, which humans have been proven to be the most dominant agents of spreading the disease by sneezing and the droplets land on surfaces or touching nose, face, eyes, or mouth after shaking hands with an infected person or touching coronavirus-active surfaces. Therefore, lockdowns will reduce the general person to person contact and social distancing must too be observed.
- The initiation of lockdowns as a desperate measure and a last resort to combatting the virus comes with several effects, especially to countries such as China and the U.S. that depend extensively on international trade and mobility of labor. Such a scenario has been subjected to a sharp fall in oil prices as many large companies shut down. Ships carrying oil have been observed desperately in the Pacific and have no demand. Financial markets, too, are under a crisis as investors withdraw from their initial investments due to the fear of the unknown. Airlines have been hit with losses, and most workers have been retrenched if not taking salary cuts. Most sectors in many economies remain under-utilized if not neglected as a priority has now shifted to the health sector, leaving other sectors crumbling. The Chinese economy, on the other hand, contracted for the first time since 1976 when it was hit by an earthquake that paralyzed most of its activities; this is as a result of most of its production activities coming to a standstill because useful raw materials cannot be sourced from their origin. China is known for its devotion to the construction of structures, generally referred to as civil engineering. The construction of such buildings depends on steel, which is an end product of iron normally sourced from Australia and Brazil, both of which cannot be accessed due to lockdowns. Their economy, too, is asleep from the fact that towns like Wuhan were completely locked down with zero movements, making it difficult for trading activities and the normal flow of business. Mexico, too, is not left out in the crisis. It relies heavily on importing intermediate goods mainly from Asian countries to use in the production of its exports. Its economy too is at a slump, and further negative growths are expected if the pandemic prevails a little bit longer. The lowering of interest rates by these countries to facilitate cheap borrowing and the extension of long-term debt agreements will cut down these countries’ gains in the financial sector. The overall impact of these will be felt across the world as their economies take a down stride because they play a huge role in keeping the world’s economy at equilibrium.
Works Cited
Gresham, Louise, et al. “Trust across borders: responding to 2009 H1N1 influenza in the Middle East.” Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science 7.4 (2009): 399-404.
Oppong, Joseph R. “Globalization of communicable diseases.” International encyclopedia of human geography (2020): 223.
Rassy, Dunia, and Richard D. Smith. “The economic impact of H1N1 on Mexico’s tourist and pork sectors.” Health economics 22.7 (2013): 824-834.
Rathi, Suresh, Hardik Gandhi, and Mark Francis. “Knowledge and awareness about H1N1 flu in the urban adult population of Vadodara, India.” Electron Physician 3 (2011): 392-95.
Sutton, John. “Quality, trade, and the moving window: The globalization process.” The Economic Journal 117.524 (2007): F469-F498.
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