Potential Economic Consequences of swine flu ALL POSITIVE

chewmylegoff

bluey890 wrote: »

1984ReturnsForReal
How many people does it need to kill to have 'positive consequences'?
One hundred, 2 thousand,10 million, everyone?

just gordon brown would do nicely.

1984ReturnsForReal_2

bluey890 wrote: »

1984ReturnsForReal
How many people does it need to kill to have 'positive consequences'?
One hundred, 2 thousand,10 million, everyone?

About 1 in 10 would suffice.....


:rotfl::rotfl:

A_fiend_for_life

It will hit poorer countries harder apparently. How does that affect our food supply?

1984ReturnsForReal_2

A_fiend_for_life wrote: »

It will hit poorer countries harder apparently. How does that affect our food supply?

Valid & excellent point.


The survivors will starve with money in their pockets...

MissMoneypenny

StevieJ wrote: »

I thought that the old were less at risk from this current flu thingy for some reason

"Most of the dead are between 25 and 45 -- the age group past pandemics have tended to strike."
http://uk.reuters.com/article/UKNews1/idUKTRE53P29520090427

I'm safe:j_party_

harryhound

chewmylegoff wrote: »

firstly, certain strains of flu kill people with strong immune systems as they provoke an extreme response from the immune system which kills the person. therefore younger healthy people are more at risk than old people. a normal influenza vaccination would do nothing to protect you against swine flu.

secondly, if there was a proper pandemic which was killing lots of people the economy would be severely affected as most workplaces would shut down - as well as things like sporting events being cancelled - to attempt to control spread of the disease. if it was really bad you wouldn't even want to risk going to the supermarket. there would also be the cost of disposing of all the dead people to think about - although in reality they would probably just have to be burned in big piles...

Very good point.
Last time that Flu really got out of hand was in 1918. Then the "Spanish" flu (almost certainly bred up in the army supply depot of Etaples (over the river from Le Touquet) where there were lots of people living in close conditions with live food such as chickens; waiting to be sent up to the trenches. The food that is, as well as the squaddies.
It started as a medical novelty compared with the daily carnage on the Western Front. Young soldiers would get ill, go purple black and be dead in 48 hours.

It took the big influx of clean young Americans arriving from the Midwest for the "final push" for the pandemic to get out of hand.. This unquarantined nice fresh meat appears to have been in the forefront of the second deadly wave of infections that turned into a world wide pandemic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_pandemic

Perhaps the message really is get a dose now before it turns into something really nasty.:rolleyes:

Harry.

PS On 1918 there was a world population of 1.6 billion at risk.
This time round the world population is about 6.75 billion and we have aeroplanes flying to most crowded cities on a daily basis. However statistically it should be just another flu dose - I've lived through up to half a dozen "nasty"- but-recoverable similar infections in my lifetime.

.

michaels

Looks like all those of us who have posted that this might be a big deal if I does become widespread will get to see whether we were right after all.

I also want it now before Hospitals are overcome.

tomterm8

1984ReturnsForReal wrote: »

Valid & excellent point.


The survivors will starve with money in their pockets...

Hm, I have now placed you, you are this guy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNV2EEz_DUA&feature=related .

More seriously, there have been arguements that historic plagues have been a good think economically for the survivors because it increases their bargaining power. Many historians think the black death caused modern capitalism to develop because it broke the historic control of the feudal class.

harryhound

It certainly created the peasants revolt as the government in power tried to increase taxes, rather
that live within the means of the country's much reduced GDP.

Cameron, Brown and those on the public payroll and gravy train; are you learning from history?

(Unfortunately like some African countries, we are getting to the stage where half the population are on the public "payroll" in one way or another.)
.

harryhound

A_fiend_for_life wrote: »

It will hit poorer countries harder apparently. How does that affect our food supply?

We in the rich countries will not be "dumping" so much subsidised over produced food onto these third world countries perhaps. Even if we get a bit short of food we will buy up what little they have, because we can out bid them.
A second wave of flu will sweep through the debilitated half starving peasants, Irish famine style. Speculators will buy up and rationalise their subsistence farms.

The price of oil will fall, providing a stimulus for the survivors.